Urge Officials to Create Diversion Courtrooms

The Criminal Justice Project of Chicago Appleseed is currently working on a proposed model for comprehensive pretrial diversion for the Cook County Felony Courts Division. The proposal centers on the creation of five pilot diversion courtrooms. Current diversion efforts include the State Attorney’s...
June 17, 2010

Judicial Performance Commission Pilot Project

There are 73 Cook County judges up for retention in the November election. Because voters have no real opportunity to independently evaluate such a large slate of candidates, unfortunately, many voters either abstain from the retention vote or make decisions based on familiar ballot cues (e.g. ethni...
June 15, 2010

Criminal Court Reform Featured in the New York Times

Chicago Appleseed's groundbreaking reform and advocacy work was featured in the New York Times article "Judge Provides Impetus for Cook County Jail’s ‘Virtual School’."Read the full article here....
June 11, 2010

Payday Loan Reform Passed by the Illinois General Assembly

On May 26, 2010, Illinois consumers scored a major victory when the Illinois House passed the Senate amendments to H.B. 537, a strong payday loan reform bill, by a vote of 108-1. Governor Quinn now has 90 days to sign the bill into law.Payday loans are small, short term loans made at predatory inter...
June 10, 2010

Forum on Police Accountability

The Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed, in conjunction with the American Constitution Society (Chicago chapter), are pleased to announce the upcoming "Forum on Police Accountability." DATE: Monday June 28, 2010TIME: 12-1:30pmPLACE: Sidley Austin LLP, 1 South Dearborn, ChicagoSpeakers:...
June 7, 2010