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Judicial Evaluations Available Now for the 2024 General Election: The Chicago Council of Lawyers Finds 4 Judges Not Qualified and 12 Judges Well Qualified
The Chicago Council of Lawyers has released our recommendations for the judicial retention ballot in the November 2024 general election. The Committee to Elect Qualified Judges' sample ballot is also available for download.You can read [...]
Letters to the Editor Commentary
Stoking fears about DNC protests gets in the way of right to peacefully protest Now, more than ever, we must renew our collective commitment to amplifying voices outside institutions of power, writes the Chicago Council [...]
Transit Table partners pass HB277
HB277—a bill that amends Illinois law to no longer suspend driver's licenses for failure to appear in court for traffic tickets—has passed both houses and now heads to the governor for signing! Illinois will join [...]
Threats of Punishment Don’t Create Safety
In an editorial Friday, the Sun-Times reports that State Senate Republicans want to toughen the law and upgrade order of protection violations from a misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony. The editorial suggests this will [...]
NEW REPORT – When You’re a Hammer, Everything’s a Nail: Examining the “Progressive Prosecutor” Movement and Possibilities for Future Reform
Byline: Naomi Johnson (she/they) is the Co-Executive Director of Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. They lead all research and policy projects for the organization – centering community voices alongside evidence-driven approaches. Naomi graduated from [...]
Primary Election Judicial Evaluations for 2024 are Live!
Among the Chicago Council of Lawyers’ most vital projects are our state judicial evaluations. This crucial public service to help the citizens of Illinois vote for qualified judges. The quality of our judiciary is a [...]
NEW – Restorative Justice, Community, and the Courts: An Analysis of the Impact, Benefits, and Elements “Constantly in Conflict” in Chicago’s Restorative Justice Community Courts
Our new report examines the Circuit Court of Cook County’s three Restorative Justice Community Courts (RJCCs) located in the Avondale (North Side), Englewood (South Side), and North Lawndale (West Side) neighborhoods of Chicago. The North [...]
Progress Report: First 100 Days of the New Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County
On December 1, 2020, Iris Martinez took office of Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court. The Clerk plays an essential function as the “official record keeper” for the court, responsible for collecting and disbursing [...]
Legislation Alert!
The Chicago Council of Lawyers is urging its members to submit Witness slips in opposition to HB 0861, which removes the court's discretion to award maintenance without consideration of "marital misconduct". HB 861 specifically prohibits [...]
Join Us in October
Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, the Collaboration for Justice, have been doing an annual luncheon for decades—this year is different. Instead of a luncheon, we will host three virtual panels on October 9, 16, and 23. [...]
