Sarah Staudt -Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

About Sarah Staudt

Since 2018, Sarah Staudt (she/her) has led our criminal legal system reform efforts and now oversees the entire legislative and policy portfolio as our Director of Policy. Sarah primarily focuses on pretrial issues, leading our involvement in the Coalition to End Money Bond, and was instrumental in advocating for the groundbreaking Pretrial Fairness Act, which passed in 2021. Additionally, Sarah leads our program work focused on electronic detention, abolishing overly punitive sentencing systems, and promoting court system efficiency, fairness, and accountability. View all posts by Sarah Staudt →

Cook County State’s Attorney Has Not Agreed to Release in Approximately 80% of Cases during COVID-19 Pandemic

UPDATE: On July 1, 2020, at the request of the States Attorney's Office, this post was updated to include the results of their analysis of a selection of court call transcripts from March 19-April 8. Please see addendum at the end of this post for more information. Since the first case o...

Victory in Federal Court: Sheriff Tom Dart Ordered to Improve COVID-19 Protections in Cook County Jail

This morning, Federal Judge Matthew Kennelly issued a court order that extends federal court oversight of the Cook County Jail, requiring Sheriff Tom Dart to make desperately needed changes to the conditions inside and decrease the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus. Chicago Appleseed has provided...

Cook County Jail’s First COVID-19 Death Could (and Should) Have Been Prevented

Jeffrey Pendleton is the first person known to have died after contracting COVID-19 in the Cook County Jail. His infection and eventual death were avoidable and preventable. Each and every government actor who objected to his release—or contributed to his incarceration in the first place—played a ro...

Cook County Officials Bear Most Direct Duty of Care to Those in Custody during COVID-19 Pandemic

By Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst & Staff Attorney for the Collaboration for Justice of Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers Cook County Jail must immediately, and drastically, reduce its jail population. Over two weeks ago, Chicago Appleseed organized the fir...

Statement from Advocates to Chief Judge Evans: Need For Immediate Additional Action by Cook County Courts to Ensure Public Safety during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear Chief Judge Evans, The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented threat to public safety. The criminal courts, in particular, have a critically important responsibility in permitting people under their jurisdiction to follow CDC recommendations to stay home when feeling ill to properly c...

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