Court Transparency Archives - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

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...

Undermining Transparency & Accountability, Federal Court Ruling Allows CPD to Disable Body-Worn Cameras after Officer-Involved Shootings

In January of 2024, the Illinois Attorney General moved for judicial resolution in a dispute with the City of Chicago over the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) body-worn camera policy. Following the cover-up of the CPD’s murder of Laquan McDonald, the federal government implemented a consen...

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...

Cook County State’s Attorney’s Rollback of Do-Not-Call and Disclosure Lists is Alarming and Dangerous

Maintaining lists of discredited cops is a basic and vital step in preventing wrongful convictions and fulfilling United States Supreme Court obligations, which require prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence (any evidence that might point toward the innocence of a defendant) or other informat...

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...

1 2 3 … 8