Latest News - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

Alternatives for Incarceration Symposium Highlights Successful Models for Diversion

Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, community members, advocates, and elected officials congregated to hear about alternatives to what has become the de facto solution to our nation's drug problem--mass incarceration. Protestants for the Common good hosted speakers...

Report: The 2012 Judicial Performance Commission

The 2012 Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County (JPC or Commission) has completed its evaluations of the Circuit Court and Appellate Court Judges whose terms expire this year. The Report is available here as a .pdf download. Each judge’s report consists of a professional biography (compiled...

Legal Current Events: Preliminary Injunction Denied in ILP v. Madigan

On Friday, a judge for the Northern District of Illinois denied Illinois Liberty PAC’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Illinois’ campaign donation limits in ILP v. Madigan. The court issued a 22-page opinion (.pdf download) along with the order denying the injunction. The campaign donat...

Links of Interest: October 1-5, 2012

Criminal Justice The Washington Post ran an editorial this week criticizing systemic barriers to restoring voting privileges to former inmates in Virginia. The NAACP is having an event in Richmond, Virginia on Friday to publicize its advocacy on the issue. Illinois restores voting rights to pris...

At 2012 Annual Meeting, Honorees Call for Criminal Justice Reform, Diversion

Speaking to over two hundred fifty lawyers hailing from across the city and legal disciplines this Wednesday, Assistant State's Attorney Kim Foxx contrasted the juvenile justice system with the adult criminal justice system. ASA Foxx, a ten-year veteran of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office...