Judicial Ethics & Accountability Archives - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

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...

Judicial Discretion in Cook County’s Problem-Solving Courts

Cook County’s problem-solving courts (PSCs) are specialized diversion courts that work with accused people whose mental health conditions and/or substance usage may have contributed to their arrests. The PSCs include Drug Treatment Courts, Veterans Treatment Courts, and Mental Health Courts; in othe...

Primary Election Results: Voter Turnout was Low, but Judicial Races Weren’t Neglected

Preliminary results are in from the 2022 primary election in Illinois, which included a number of judicial races. Primary turn-out was disappointing – the “second-lowest for a modern-era primary” – with only 1-in-5 Chicago voters participating and suburban Cook County showing a similar turn-out rate...

Announcing: Jill Dupont Memorial Fellowship of the Collaboration for Justice

Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, an affiliate of Appleseed, and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, Chicago’s public interest bar association, are incredibly honored to announce the creation of the Jill Dupont Memorial Fellowship of the Collaboration for Justice. Chicago Appleseed Cent...

Public (In)Access to Judicial Branch Data in Illinois

In 2019, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and our pro bono partner, DLA Piper, looked at the open records laws, the Freedom of Information Act, and other public access policies in all 50 states to determine where Illinois stands in terms of judicial transparency. We found that Illin...

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