Reducing Jail Overcrowding in Cook County

The Cook County jail is nearly full again, jumping two seasons ahead of its usual autumn peak. On March 2nd, the Chicago Tribune reported on one reasonable means to reduce the jail population safely and cost-effectively--by tracking defendants on GPS monitors while they await trial. And there are ma...
March 18, 2013

Policy Brief: Community Courts in Cook County

Today we release a two-part policy brief discussing an alternative prosecution strategy called community-based justice. Part I makes the case for community-base justice by comparing Cook County’s current misdemeanor justice system--which adjudicates over 150,000 misdemeanors annually (pdf)--with com...
February 27, 2013

Justice System Advocates Caution Against Cell Phone Ban in Cook County Courts

Last month, the Cook County Circuit Court announced an electronic device ban, effective January 14, 2013, in all Cook County courts except the Daley Center, including the George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th Street and California Avenue. After discussing the proposed ban with many loca...
January 10, 2013

Forum on the Forgotten Guantanamo Detainees

This program will focus on half of the men still detained in Guantánamo. For at least 3 years, these 86 men have been cleared for release by unanimous agreement of the nation’s top intelligence, national security, law enforcement, and military officials. Yet taxpayers continue to spend $70 million p...
January 8, 2013

Testimony: Justice Advocates Oppose Videoconferenced Criminal Proceedings

Last week, Chicago Appleseed, Chicago Council of Lawyers, and several other criminal justice advocates submitted testimony objecting to an Illinois Supreme Court Proposal 12-01 (P.R. 0196). Proposal 12-01 creates a rule permitting a criminal defendant to appear in many different proceedings via clo...
December 4, 2012