Policy Statements
Official policy positions and recommendations addressing judicial selection, court reform, and related legal system issues.
Analysis: PROPOSALS TO ESTABLISH A CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT COMMISSION FOR THE CPD AND RELATED AGENCIES
Today, the Chicago Council of Lawyers (Council) issues a memorandum reviewing and commenting on two alternative pending ordinances that would establish a Civilian Oversight Commission over the Chicago Police Department (CPD), the Civilian Office of [...]
What’s Happening in Portland Matters
Two things are happening in Portland, Oregon, that bear close attention in Chicago as events quickly unfold. First, as summarized on July 17 by Charlie Warzel, an opinion writer at large for The New York [...]
The United States is a Nation Ruled by Laws, Not Kings
AMERICANS EVERYWHERE MUST SPEAK UP ABOUT PORTLAND Americans everywhere should care deeply about what the Trump administration is doing to Americans in Portland – and give voice against it. As the highly esteemed and astute [...]
Ending Code of Silence Policies in the Chicago Police Department’s Collective Bargaining Agreements
The Coalition for Police Contracts Accountability (CPCA) offers recommendations to end the provisions in Chicago Police Department's Collective Bargaining Agreements that perpetuate the "Code of Silence" According to the Better Government Association (BGA), it was [...]
Policy Statement of the Civil Liberties Committee: Limits on NSA Surveillance of Americans should be Retained or Strengthened
After Edward Snowden leaked classified memos that disclosed that the National Security Agency (NSA) had been been gathering bulk telephone metadata on Americans (such as phone numbers called and the dates and times), Congress enacted [...]
Civil Liberties Committee opposes Proposed Rule to “Clarify” the scope of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
On August 12, the Civil Liberties Committee submitted a formal letter to the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opposing a change to Section 1557 NPRM, RIN 0945-AA11 [...]
The Data is Out: Bond reform in Cook County has been a tremendous success
A Policy Statement from Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers The Data is Out: Bond reform in Cook County has been a tremendous success By Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst and Staff Attorney [...]
Sheriff Tom Dart is pushing a concerning bill through the Illinois legislature that would give unprecedented power to jail officials to lengthen individuals’ prison sentences due to discipline violations.
By Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst and Staff Attorney SB 416 allows jail officials to use their internal disciplinary boards to remove up to a year of pre-trial sentence credit for inmates who are found [...]
Police Accountability Consent Decree Hearings
Chicago Council of Lawyers offered testimony at the police accountability consent decree hearings this week. A representative of the Civil Liberties Committee gave remarks that went beyond the comments submitted in writing in August of [...]
Supplemental Statement by the Federal Courts Committee of the Chicago Council of Lawyers Opposing the Nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh
The Chicago Council of Lawyers issued its Supreme Court Nominee Report: Judge Brett Kavanaugh on August 31, 2018, days before Judge Kavanaugh sat before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee for a [...]
