Collaboration for Justice
Updates and insights from the Collaboration for Justice initiative, highlighting partnerships, programs, and efforts to strengthen fairness, accountability, and public trust in the legal system.
VICTORY: Illinois Just Passed the Pretrial Fairness Act and Ended Money Bail
After years of advocacy by the Coalition to End Money Bond – including Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers – and thousands of other organizers across the state, the Illinois Legislature just became the first [...]
Illinois Supreme Court Amendment to Rule 23 – A Necessary Change
The amendment to Rule 23 will now allow these unpublished orders, issued on or after January 1, 2021, to be cited for persuasive purposes. The Chicago Council of Lawyers have supported and advocated on behalf of this rule change and applaud the Supreme Court’s decision.
We analyzed 536,000 CPD arrest records spanning a period from 2014 to 2020. Here’s what we found.
INCOMMUNICADO DETENTION Arrested and deprived of communication without being charged with a crime — incommunicado detention in Chicago. In film and on TV, stories about police and criminals have long made for captivating story lines and entertaining [...]
“Bail Reform” Worked in Cook County; Now, Pass the Pretrial Fairness Act and End Money Bond for Everyone in Illinois
A new report from nationally renowned criminal justice experts at Loyola University Chicago, Don Stemen and David Olson, shows that Cook County’s efforts to reduce the use of money bail and release more people pretrial did not [...]
As the Pandemic Rages, the Cook County Jail Population Grows
As we embark on the ‘third-wave’ of the pandemic in the United States, we have tragically learned many things. First and importantly, we have learned that the best and only truly effective way to prevent [...]
New Directions for the Office of the Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court: Recommendations for Planning and Transitioning to New Leadership
Written by Sarah Bloomquist, Undergraduate Intern (Summer 2020) Today, Chicago Council of Lawyers, Chicago Appleseed, and the Civic Federation release our joint report, New Directions for the Office of the Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court: [...]
Examining “Cook County E-Court” and Looking Toward the Future of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Written by Sarah Bloomquist and Allison Leon In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal courtrooms in Cook County were shuttered for all but limited proceedings beginning March 13, 2020, with judges allowed to hear only bond and preliminary [...]
Chicago Tribune Reports Excellent News about State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s Reformist Policies (Even if they Framed it as an Attack)
Both this morning and yesterday, the Chicago Tribune published an editorial and an analysis, respectively, attacking bail reform in Cook County and the State’s Attorney’s (SA) felony dismissal rates. The information published in their report on SA Kim Foxx is well-analyzed, and [...]
Reallocating Priorities: Call for City of Chicago to Invest in Community-Based DV Prevention and Intervention
Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed are happy to share The Network's campaign to fund domestic and sexual violence services. The Network has released a comprehensive report calling for the reallocation of $35-million from the [...]
We Should Not Declare Victory Prematurely: Fight Against COVID-19 at Cook County Jail is Far From Over
Following a recent report from the CDC that the Cook County Jail has been successful in containing the COVID-19 outbreak within its walls, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was quick to tell the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday that he [...]
