Austin Segal -Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts |

About Austin Segal

Austin Segal (they/he) is Chicago Appleseed’s Research Manager and our Jill Dupont Memorial Fellow. They studied sociology, mathematical methods in the social sciences, and legal studies at Northwestern University and wrote an interdisciplinary thesis with original research on the implementation of queer-inclusive educational policies. They have been involved in organizations that promote constructive dialogue and community organizing, and are deeply invested in supporting those harmed by the criminal legal system. View all posts by Austin Segal →

Graphic with the title text: Pretrial Fairness Act - Explained.

The Pretrial Fairness Act: Explained

Written by Austin Segal and Kate Bannister. Earlier this month, the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice published a court-watching report titled Changing Landscapes: Community Court-Watchers’ Observations of the Second Year of Pretrial Fairness Act Implementation. The report, in which Chicago A...

ICYMI — Chicago Appleseed Hosted a Press Conference Last Week to Announce Release of New Report

A week ago, Chicago Appleseed hosted a press conference to announce the release of our new report: 500 Days Forward, 10 Years Back: An Evaluation of Eileen O'Neill Burke's First 500 Days as Cook County State's Attorney. The report explains the policies put in place by the Burke administration in its...

Why do we need court-watchers in Illinois? The answer lies in our open records laws.

Community court-watching is exactly what it sounds like: members of the public taking time out of their days to watch court proceedings. But why? In Chicago Appleseed’s Court Observation & Education Program (COEP), we see court-watching not only as an informative experience for volunteers but...

NEW REPORT—What We Don’t Know About the Courts: The Far-Reaching Consequences of the Judicial Exemption to the FOIA in Illinois

In our newly published report, What We Don’t Know About the Courts: The Far-Reaching Consequences of the Judicial Exemption to the FOIA in Illinois, Chicago Appleseed explains the judicial exemption from Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and this exemption’s broad consequences for data tra...

ICYMI: Recap of “Who’s Your Jailer?” Event—December 10, 2025

On Wednesday evening, Naomi and I participated in a community teach-in, "Who's Your Jailer?," hosted by the Cook County Coalition for Prosecutor Accountability (C3PA), where we discussed Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke’s policies and their consequences. The panel also featured publ...

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