Category Archives: Criminal Justice

Updated: February 10, 2023 Illinois has made great strides in reforming its laws and attempting to end mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and other harms caused by the criminal legal system. In January, Illinois made itself a national criminal justice leader by being the first state to com...

Today, an ordinance (02023-904) to create enhanced penalties for “aggravated assault” on emergency workers, firefighters, and police officers – introduced by Alderman Matt O’Shea – passed Chicago City Council. This ordinance is the latest in a series of ordinances aimed at creating hefty municipal p...

Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and Chicago Council of Lawyers work together to seek evidence-based solutions to social injustices. In early 2022, we began researching the issue of false reporting and police perjury — sometimes known as ”testilying” — in Circuit Court of Cook County. Our f...

On December 6, Governor Pritzker signed Public Act 102-1104, a trailer bill that clarifies aspects of the Pretrial Fairness Act to allow for the successful implementation of the state’s no-cash-bail system starting on January 1, 2023. Since the Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity – Today (S...