Court Watching – Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

What is the Gun Accountability Program?

The Gun Accountability Program (GAP) is a newly implemented diversion program that provides a deferred prosecution pathway for individuals charged with Class 4 Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (UPW) or Class 4 Aggravated Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (AUPW). Participation is limited to individuals...

New Report Uses Court-Watching to Evaluate the Implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act

The Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice (INPJ) has released “Changing Landscapes: Community Court-Watchers’ Observations of the Second Year of Pretrial Fairness Act Implementation,” a new report detailing community efforts to monitor implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act in its second year....

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 Court-Watching Report – Evicted in the Dark: Findings & Observations from Cook County Eviction Courts

Chicago Appleseed is excited to announce the publication of Evicted in the Dark: Findings & Observations from Cook County Eviction Courts, our newest court-watching report! The report, completed with support from our partners at the Chicago Foundation for Women, relies on findings from thousa...

Why We Court-Watch

Why do we court-watch? https://www.chicagoappleseed.org/2022/08/22/northwestern-report-highlights-issues-with-court-culture/ Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts conducts court-watching in a variety of civil and criminal courtrooms in Cook County. Our volunteers observe courtrooms as a m...

1 2 3