“A Thousand Small Sanities” and Why Judges Matter

"A Thousand Small Sanities" is worth a look for anyone interested in learning about rational, incremental criminal justice system reform. It's a succinct, straightforward history of criminal justice reform in New York City. In Small Sanities, the Center for Court Innovation Director Greg Berman writ...
August 29, 2012

Center for Civil Rights Remedies Report on Disparities in School Discipline

The National Appleseed network works to reduce social injustice by analyzing inequities in public systems and suggesting reforms to balance the systems. Many Appleseed affiliates, Chicago among them, are engaged in research and advocacy to ensure that educational opportunities are equally available...
August 8, 2012

Chicago Appleseed Formalizing Innovative Court Watching Program

by Simona Novinec, Chicago Appleseed Intern Trial judges play a central role in the American legal system. Selection of a competent, diverse, and honest judiciary is therefore a crucial mechanism to protect judicial independence, on the one hand, and promote democratic control of judiciary on the o...
July 24, 2012

Community Courts and the Fight Against Quality-of-Life Crimes

by Brian Gilbert, Summer Intern with Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice On June 27th of this year, as the Chicago Sun-Times reported here, five-term Alderman Michael Zalewski proposed a bill to raise the fines for adult graffiti taggers from $750 to $2,000, and to mandate a minimum of three days in...
July 16, 2012

Report Release: Reimagining the Immigration Court Assembly Line

The Obama administration has made progress in improving the U.S. immigration court system, but much remains to be done, according to Reimagining the Immigration Court Assembly Line, a report by public interest justice centers Appleseed and Chicago Appleseed with pro bono counsel Akin Gump Strauss Ha...
May 31, 2012