Cook County Jail Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

A New Mandatory Minimum for Gun Crime Will Cause Further Pre-Trial Delay And Jail Overcrowding

With the support of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, HB2265 / SB 1342 was recently introduced to the Illinois General Assembly with the goal of imposing a mandatory three-year minimum prison sentence for people convicted of illegal use of a weapon. Our friends at the John Howard Association—in recent articles o...

“Evidence-Based Cook County Bail System Reform” Resolution Urges a New Push for Coordinated Reform

At the June 19 meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, Commissioner John Fritchey put forward a resolution entitled “Evidence-Based Cook County Bail System Reform.” The resolution urges the Cook County judiciary to overhaul the “failing pre-trial justice system,” starting with introducing...

Coordination is the Key to the Cook County Electronic Monitoring Problem

The April 26th “Change of Subject” column column by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn discusses the drop in the number of defendants released on electronic home monitoring which is contributing to the critical problem of jail overcrowding in Cook County. The current population of Cook Count...

“Bailing Out of a Medieval System”

As Chicago searches for ways to reduce its exploding jail population, it need look no further than neighboring Rockford. Tom Warkowski, a former Winnebago County Assistant State's Attorney was appointed Jail Population Analyst under a court order by the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois to r...

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...

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