Latest News - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

[VIDEO] Chicago Appleseed on “In The Loop” Channel 20 (PBS WYCC), discussing Bond Court

I was a panelist on the November 20th episode of "In The Loop" on Channel 20 (PBS Chicago, WYCC) at 7:00pm CST. My co-panelists were former Public Defender of Cook County, Professor Randolph Stone and Commissioner John Fritchey. The topic was reforming Cook County's Bond Court. As we've discusse...

California Votes to Downgrade Drug Crimes: Is Illinois Next?

On November 4, 2014, voters in California changed yesterday’s felony drug possession into today’s misdemeanor. Voters passed a significant ballot measure, Proposition 47, a criminal reform initiative to dramatically reduce the punishment for a variety of crimes. The passage of Proposition 47 made C...

Letter to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

If you are a subscriber to the Daily Law Bulletin, you have probably seen our letter in the Lawyer's Forum concerning the Cook County Bond Court. We have reprinted it below for nonsubscribers. A wishlist for forthcoming bond court plan By Ali Abid and Malcolm Rich Ali Abid is a staff attorney and M...

The Supreme Court Looks at Judicial Campaign Fundraising

On October 2, 2014, the Supreme Court granted cert in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, examining the constitutionality under the First Amendment of a state ethical rule barring candidates for state judicial posts from personally soliciting campaign donations. Lanell Williams-Yulee was a candidate...

Judicial Elections

Early voting has already started in Cook County and there are 101 judicial races: 27 vacancies, 73 retention elections and 1 new judicial seat. Voteforjudges.org—a non-partisan website founded by Chicago Appleseed and sponsored by the Committee to Elect Qualified Judges—collects the judicial evalua...