Policy Brief: Early Case Assessment in Urban Jurisdictions

The twin goals of early case assessment are to devote more resources to those cases for which a conviction can confidently be obtained, and also to decline to prosecute, reduce charges, or divert other cases. Our Early Case Assessment Policy Brief takes a look at how the District Attorney's Offices...
August 21, 2012

Bond Court Reforms: A Second Look for Diversion Programs

By Michael Levy, Staff Attorney at Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice At a press conference on July 13, 2012, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced a major step toward reforming Cook County’s criminal justice system with the implementation of a coordinated diversion program in central bo...
July 19, 2012

Impact of New Marijuana Ordinance Difficult to Predict Without Data

Tracy Siska, at the Chicago Just Project, evaluates the Chicago Cannabis Ordinance (pdf), the "Pot Ticket" law that just passed Chicago's City Council. Most importantly, he points out, there's no way to predict the law's impact because we have so little data on how the current laws are enforced and...
July 2, 2012

Report: Strategies to Enhance and Coordinate Cook County Diversion Programs

We are pleased to announce the release of our latest report: "Strategies to Enhance and Coordinate Cook County Diversion Programs." Take a look at the Full Report or the Executive Summary to learn about ways for Cook County to employ a smarter, more effective, cost efficient system of administering...
June 28, 2012

RSVP — Discussing Diversion in Cook County, June 27, 3-5 pm

At the "Getting Smarter on Crime: Discussing Diversion in Cook County Criminal Justice" forum, the Chicago Reader's Mick Dumke will moderate a panel discussion among public safety leaders about recent successes and future opportunities to improve Cook County's criminal justice process. It will empha...
June 19, 2012