Access to Justice Archives - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

Voting for the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County: Your Guide for the 2024 Primary Election!

The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County (“Court Clerk”) has unique responsibilities that directly impact access to the courts; the Court Clerk is in a position to create or remove many barriers to justice. The Court Clerk answers to a number of constituencies: judges, attorneys, litigants, jur...

Comment on the Clerk of the Court Data Breach

Chicago Appleseed has long been a vocal critic of the Office of the Clerk of the Court, advocating for a higher level of professionalism, accountability and better data management. We believe that the office has a duty to the public—both litigants and non-litigants alike—to share general information...

New Federal Civil Asset Forfeiture Legislation Won’t End Police Shadow Surveillance or Limit Tech Budgets

Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers’ report on civil asset forfeiture (CAF) highlights some of the horrors around property (cash and cars mostly) seized from citizens who have little to no connection with any crime. One outcome of this nefarious practice is th...

“Haste Makes Waste” in Courtrooms Too: Balancing Quality with Quantity in Response to the Immigration Backlog

Since 2017, the backlog of pending immigration cases in the United States has been growing exponentially. Today, there are over two million pending cases in the U.S. immigration court system. Over the past few months, the situation has significantly worsened, with a record-breaking number of new dep...

Judicial Discretion in Cook County’s Problem-Solving Courts

Cook County’s problem-solving courts (PSCs) are specialized diversion courts that work with accused people whose mental health conditions and/or substance usage may have contributed to their arrests. The PSCs include Drug Treatment Courts, Veterans Treatment Courts, and Mental Health Courts; in othe...

1 2 3 … 12