Latest News – Page 10 – Chicago Council of Lawyers

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 estimated in 2018 that the City...

Judicial Recusal & Confidence in Our Courts

This fall, the issue of judicial recusal has returned to the forefront in Illinois, with the indictments against Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke’s husband, Chicago Alderman Ed Burke. In particular, WBEZ reported at least 10 instances in which Justice Burke decided cases involving parties who,...

Malcolm Rich: Central Panels promote Fairness, Effectiveness, and Efficiency in Administrative Adjudication

The Hidden Judiciary: How Central Panels Improve Fairness, Effectiveness, and Efficiency in Administrative Adjudication By Malcolm Rich, Executive Director of the Collaboration for Justice of Chicago Appleseed & Chicago Council of Lawyers As states expand the range of issues and disputes e...

License to Work Act Passes

License to Work Act: SB 1786, the License to Work Act, passed in the Illinois legislature veto session on Tuesday, October 29. Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed are proud to have worked as members of the Transit Table Coalition on this important legislation to end the practice of s...

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 the USA Freedom Act of 2015 (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23). That act l...

After years of advocacy, the recording systems in Chicago’s eviction courtrooms are officially operational as of October 25, 2019

Chicago Reader columnist Maya Dukmasova published an article on Wednesday, October 30, exposing the fact that, “for the first time in 16 years, Chicago eviction court is on tape.” Chicago Appleseed & Chicago Council of Lawyers established a coalition that has continuously advocated the c...

Collaboration for Justice Fellowship Announcement

The Chicago Council of Lawyers was created in 1969 - fifty years ago - to give a voice to lawyers demanding fairness and effectiveness in the justice system. When the Council was founded, there was a lack of basic trust in our government and corporate sectors across the country; fundamentally unfair...

Merit-Based Judicial Retention in Illinois: A Viable Way to Improve the Quality of the State’s Judiciary

In 2014, Representative Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) proposed to amend the Illinois constitution as a means to improve the way Illinois retains its judges. Her bill (HJRCA0010) suggested a judicial performance commission for the evaluation of judicial retention candidates. As explained in a ...

ABA Resolution 100A: A Victory in the Fight for Procedural Justice, Fairness, and the Independence of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs)

A Victory in the Fight for Procedural Justice, Fairness, and the Independence of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs): ABA Resolution 100A, August 12, 2019 In February of 2019, we released a report entitled The Need for a Central Panel Approach to Administrative Adjudication: Pros, Cons, and Se...

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 of the Affordable Care Act. They write: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)...