Cook County State’s Attorney Announces New Policy for Bond Recommendations

On Monday, June 12th, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced that her office has instituted a new policy instructing her prosecutors to recommend I-Bonds in many kinds of cases. In Illinois, I-Bonds are the form of pretrial release that does not require payment of money before release. I-Bo...
June 15, 2017

Illinois Takes Small First Step Toward Bail Reform

On June 9, 2017, Governor Rauner signed SB 2034 into law. SB 2034 covers two distinct areas of criminal law: the state RICO law and bail. First, effective immediately, it extends state RICO Act (“Illinois Street Gang And Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Law”) for an additional 5 years....
June 9, 2017

Restorative Justice Community Court profiled in The Atlantic

Chicago Appleseed's senior criminal justice policy analyst Sharlyn Grace was quoted in a story that came out today in The Atlantic, "Should Communities Have a Say in How Residents Are Punished for Crime?" Chicago Appleseed is proud to play a role in designing and implementing Cook County's first...
May 2, 2017

Introducing Principles for Bail Reform in Cook County

Principles of Bail Reform in Cook County The pretrial detention system in Cook County needs reform. Cook County Jail incarcerates approximately 7,500 people per day. An additional 2,000 people are under the Sheriff’s supervision through electronic monitoring. More than 90% of the people detained are...
April 25, 2017