Latest News
On the Table 2019 Memo to the Mayor: Our Courts are Our Community
Thanks to our guests for an exciting On the Table conversation on May 15th, discussing our courts as part of our community. This year, On the Table hosts are producing a Memo to the Mayor [...]
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 [...]
A Statement from the Chicago Council of Lawyers: Addressing Systemic Racism in the Cook County Criminal Justice System
Chicago Appleseed, along with Reclaim Chicago and the People’s Lobby, recently released the report: Exercising Full Powers: Recommendations to Kim Foxx on Addressing Systematic Racism in the Cook County Criminal Justice System. This is an editorial [...]
New Report on the Foxx Administration
Exercising Full Powers: Recommendations to Kim Foxx on Addressing Systemic Racism in the Cook County Criminal Justice System In 2016, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx was elected in a landslide victory that was widely [...]
Proposed Law Would Guarantee Prompt Access to a Phone – and a Lawyer- for Arrestees
By Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst at Chicago Appleseed and Staff Liaison to the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee of Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers. One of the most timeworn media [...]
New Program to Help Pro Se Litigants and Thank You
Thank you to our Supporters On behalf of Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, I want to thank those of you who supported our end of year matching opportunity. To match the $40,000 [...]
Judicial Election Results and End of Year Campaign
Voters Do Not Retain Cook County Judge For the first time in nearly 30 years, Cook County voters have voted against the retention of a sitting Circuit Court judge. Judge Matthew Coghlan, who sat in [...]
Thanks for Attending Our Annual Luncheon
Thanks to everyone who attended our annual luncheon! This year, we honored Retired State Representative Elaine Nekritz for her work on the recently enacted Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act which will reduce the imposition of court fines and fees on those [...]
Chicago Council of Lawyers Releases its 2018 Judicial Evaluations for Judges Seeking Retention and Judicial Candidates Seeking to Fill Vacancies
The Chicago Council of Lawyers releases today its 2018 Judicial Evaluation Report of judges seeking retention and judicial candidates seeking to fill judicial vacancies. We also release our 2018 Judicial Ballot Summary. Judges make all kinds [...]
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 [...]