Collaboration for Justice
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Blog: Smart Criminal Justice Policies Gain Momentum in Chicago, Cook County
County and City officials have taken bold yet prudent steps toward sensible, cost-effective public safety policies. The County has expanded use of electronic monitoring and the City is now considering issuing a fine in lieu of arrest for marijuana possession-a move many suburbs have already made. Bo...
Anonymity and Integrity in Researching Judicial Performance
Recently, Chicago Appleseed was asked about unsolicited anonymous comments about judicial retention candidates and whether they play a role in the data collection for the Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County's (the JPC) evaluations. The integrity of our data is paramount and we strive to u...
Community-Involved Efforts Lead to Record CPS Attendance Level
Chicago Public Schools enjoyed a 94.7% attendance rate on the district's first day of school. The turnout this Tuesday marks a four-year high, and a jump from 92.9% last year. CPS attributes the turnout largely to coordinated efforts among the schools, community organizations, and families. One of t...
CPS Principal Pay-for-Performance Plan Opens the Door for Community Schools
Merit pay is a notoriously tricky business. Reward short-term returns and you hang the future out to dry. Or, as we've seen in a growing number of school districts across the country, you run the risk of teachers and administrators taking shortcuts (ie, cheating) to grab the brass ring. Mayor Emmanu...
What We Read, August 12-19
Criminal Justice Court Reform: Even conservative states are adopting lighter sentencing policies in response to unsustainable prison costs, reports the New York Times. Matthew Iglesias questions the social, political, and economic rationale behind increasingly curtailing formerly incarcerated indivi...
More incarceration does not equal less crime.
The ACLU posted a fascinating infographic this week. The above graphic compares the change incarceration rates and the change in crime rates from 1999 to 2009. Illinois' prison population has skyrocketed since 1970, but has not grown considerably in the past decade, as illustrated by this chart prod...
Chicago Muckrakers: Tough birthday for War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is now in its ripe middle age, turning 40 this month. But its birthday hasn't been an especially pleasant one....