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

Letter to the Editor: Campaign contributions and recusal

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (account required for access) has run a letter to the editor from our Executive Director and our partners at the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, discussing the need for improved recusal standards in Illinois. We're pleased to...
February 12, 2013

Assets Matter: Promoting Economic Stability

        We were thrilled to be featured in our parent organization's weekly newsletter, Appleseed This Week! Here's the complete article, covering our work with the Illinois Asset Building Group: Two years of Chicago Appleseed's work on small dollar lending culminated this...
December 6, 2012

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