Policy Statements
Official policy positions and recommendations addressing judicial selection, court reform, and related legal system issues.
Protecting Immigration Court Due Process
Protecting Immigration Court Due Process: A Policy Statement from the Immigration Court Reform Program Committee of the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers Prepared by PILI Fellow Vinita Singh [...]
Due Process Must Be Protected
–Sadaf Misbah, summer fellow at Chicago Appleseed Over the weekend, President Trump proposed depriving undocumented immigrants of their due-process rights. In this message via Twitter, the President announced his intention to implement “zero tolerance” [...]
Associate Judge Process Has Potential but Diversity Still Not Optimal
Posted by Elizabeth Monkus on June 12, 2018 Improving diversity on the bench requires critical assessment of how judges are elected and selected; citizen oversight and participation is necessary. We believe the associate judge process this year is [...]
Joint Statement of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice on the recent decision in Matter of A-B-
Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers join with the immigration and domestic violence legal communities in condemning the U.S. Attorney General’s June 11, 2018 decision in Matter of A-B-, 27 [...]
Joint Statement Against Reinstatement of the Death Penalty in Illinois
Following the advancement of House Floor Amendment 1 to SB 2580, a wrong-headed measure to reinstate the death penalty in Illinois, Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice release the following statement in opposition: Joint Statement [...]
Unofficial Judicial Election Results
Thank you to each of you who used the judicial evaluations of the Chicago Council of Lawyers to make informed decisions about judicial elections. The Council's evaluations were utilized by VoteforJudges.org, Chicago Votes, Ballot Ready, and [...]
Chicago Council of Lawyers Releases Judicial Evaluations for the March 20, 2018 Primary
Judges make all kinds of decisions, from the very personal, such as child custody decisions, to those with much broader impact. The decisions that judges make affect our lives, both directly and indirectly, often for [...]
CCL Joins Opposition to HB 4113
The Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice have released a statement on HB 4113. […]
Council Issues Statement Opposing Seventh Circuit Nominee, Michael Brennan
Michael Brennan, nominee for a lifetime judicial appointment on the Seventh Circuit, is not a qualified candidate and is far outside the mainstream of judicial thought. Brennan has been unable to earn his way [...]
The Chicago Council of Lawyers Urges Reappointment of Lori Lightfoot as President of the Chicago Police Board
On behalf of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the public interest bar association that has been working for the fair and effective administration of justice for nearly 50 years, I am writing to strongly urge [...]