In 2023, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts joined the Chicago Council of Lawyers to formalize our court-watching process as its own program, the Court Observation and Education Program (COEP).

COEP is the community-based court observation program of Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers (the Collaboration for Justice), which aims to bring community members into the Circuit Court of Cook County. Our volunteers observe courtrooms as a means to demystify the judicial process, hold judges and other court stakeholders accountable, and help strengthen our research and advocacy.

The purpose of COEP is to observe and report on the culture and functioning of the courts; judges’ perceived temperament, bias, courtroom management issues; and/or exceptional behavior by judges. 

While Chicago Appleseed has observed court proceedings since 2005, the court-watching done through COEP has two distinct parts, each with its own objectives: 

    1. The first part, overseen by the Chicago Council of Lawyers, intends to increase the accountability and transparency of the judiciary by sharing performance reviews of judges with the public.
    2. The second part, overseen by Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, utilizes court observations to supplement ongoing research and advocacy projects related to systemic injustices.

Our program is not designed to evaluate judicial decision-making; its purpose is to reveal and examine how the consumers of our judicial system – members of the public – are treated by that system and the individuals who administer it. We provide a report to the individual judges and/or the Presiding Judge of divisions in question along with recommendations for improvement.

Semi-Annual Court-Watching Reports

Research has shown that courtroom culture impacts litigants’ access to justice by influencing how the legal process operates. Based on that understanding, COEP’s three major goals are as follows:
    1. To observe and report on individual judges who have been flagged as having judicial performance issues related to temperament, bias, and/or courtroom management.
    2. To observe and report on judges who have been reported to be exceptionally good jurists. 
    3. To observe and report on general courtroom policies, procedures, and accessibility as part of our research and advocacy efforts.

When a judge is selected for the Court Observation & Education Program (after multiple reports* are made by law practitioners and court actors flagging them for #1 or #2 above), court-watchers are deployed to observe these judges in their courtrooms for up to 12 weeks. Volunteers may complete as many observations as they would like in addition to the minimum requirements, but are asked to commit to observing at least three one-hour sessions in the same courtroom on different days.

At the conclusion of the observations, program staff analyze repeated themes and other features presented in the data from court-watchers in each courtroom on a particular day. The themes that emerge provide insight on the environment of the courtroom and any access to justice issues that may arise. Staff them summarize the findings of the court-watchers that have observed judges and deliver the report to the judge in question as well as to the Presiding Judge of said judge’s division.

Approximately six months from the time this report is delivered, COEP court-watchers will again observe the judge in question to assess potential improvement; at that time, an updated version of this report which includes our findings based on the second round of court-watching will be accessible to the public.

Our court-watchers are community volunteers, so they provide unique and valuable perspectives on the functioning of our court system. Click here to become a court-watcher.

Our court-watchers do not observe the quality of judges’ rationales or their compliance with precedent but rather look at the micro-culture of each courtroom to understand how this environment impacts litigants. COEP volunteers play an important role in shedding light on the impact of court culture on litigant experience. COEP court-watchers focus on monitoring the culture of the courtroom and the comportment of judges.

Court-watchers receive training to assess the atmosphere, culture, and character of the courtroom to understand how judges influence the environment and collect data to inform our future advocacy efforts and ongoing research. Once trained, court-watchers observe court and complete an online survey to examine procedural fairness, judicial temperament and bias, and court management. The survey presently consists of five sections: (1) General Information, (2) Judicial Behavior, such as temperament and courtroom management, (3) Domestic Violence if applicable, (4) Complications, including a narrative of the experience, and (5) Survey Feedback. Regardless of volunteers they respond throughout, the survey ends with an opportunity for the participant to provide feedback on the survey.

Become a Court-Watcher

Please make sure to answer questions 1-12 below and select ‘submit’ to ensure your response is captured.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do you court-watch?

Research has shown that courtroom culture impacts litigants’ access to justice by influencing how the legal process operates. Therefore, COEP volunteers play an important role in shedding light on the impact of court culture on litigant experience.

COEP has three major goals:

    1. To observe and report on individual judges who have been flagged as having judicial performance issues related to temperament, bias, and/or courtroom management.
    2. To observe and report on judges who have been reported to be exceptionally good jurists. 
    3. To observe and report on general courtroom policies, procedures, and accessibility as part of our research and advocacy efforts.

What is the COEP process?

When a judge is selected for COEP, court-watchers are deployed to observe these judges in their courtrooms for up to 12 weeks. Court-watchers look at the micro-cultures of each courtroom to understand how this environment impacts litigants.

At the conclusion of the observations, staff analyze the data and summarize the findings of the court-watchers. We deliver the report to the judge in question as well as to the Presiding Judge of said judge’s division.

Approximately six months from the time this report is delivered, COEP court-watchers again observe the judge in question to assess potential improvement; at that time, an updated version of this report which includes our findings based on the second round of court-watching will be accessible to the public.

How are individual judges selected for court-watching?

A judge is selected for the Court Observation & Education Program after multiple reports* are made by law practitioners and court actors flagging them for (a) having judicial performance issues related to temperament, bias, and/or courtroom management, or (b) being exceptionally good jurists.

Court-watchers observe these judges in their courtrooms over two periods of time: initial observations last for up to 12 weeks and follow-up observations occur approximately six months later.

* Specific reports by practitioners are confidential. Please contact Malcolm Rich (malcolmrich@chicagoappleseed.org) with any questions about this policy or process. 

How are courthouses/divisions selected for court-watching?

A specific courthouse or division is selected for court-watching to support our research and advocacy efforts. COEP volunteers observe and report on general courtroom policies, procedures, and accessibility.

How can I volunteer as a court-watcher?

Anyone can be a court-watcher! Most of our court-watchers do not have any specialized legal training, and therefore, we believe they provide fresher eyes and bring fewer preconceived assumptions about the system with them.

Volunteers sign up to court-watch at ChicagoAppleseed.org/Get-Involved and must simply complete a one-hour training with our staff before beginning to collect data virtually or in-person. Information on volunteer training will be provided by email. 

Once trained, court-watchers observe court and complete an online survey (paper copies available upon request) to examine procedural fairness, judicial temperament and bias, and court management. Volunteers may complete as many observations as they would like in addition to the minimum requirements, but are asked to commit to observing at least three one-hour sessions in the same courtroom on different days.

COURT-WATCHING RESEARCH REPORTS

Questions about volunteering or the purpose, process, and mission of COEP should be directed to court-watching@chicagoappleseed.org or sagnew@chicagoappleseed.org.