The Access to Justice Committee works to identify ineffective, inefficient, and unfair court management policies and procedures, recommends improvements, and advocates for their implementation.
The Committee is committed to strengthening fairness, integrity, efficiency, and professionalism in the courts. Its mission is to provide practical information on how to build and maintain an effective and independent justice system that enjoys the confidence of the public and lives up to the expectations of transparency and accountability.
LATEST NEWS
Project Areas
Administration of the Cook County Circuit Court—Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers examine the processes and policies of the Circuit Court of Cook County that create barriers to justice, including – importantly – the functioning of the Circuit Court Clerk.
READ:
- Year One Progress Report: New Directions for the Office of the Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court (February 2022)
- First 100 Days: New Directions for the Office of the Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court (April 2021)
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New Directions for the Office of the Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court: Recommendations for Planning and Transitioning to New Leadership (September 2020)
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Cook County E-Court: Evaluating the Circuit Court’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Looking Toward the Future (August 2020)
Central Panels of Administrative Hearing Officers—Researching how centralized pools of administrative hearing officers can professionalize and increase independence from decision-making agencies outside of the court system.
Promoting higher quality, more independent administrative judiciaries by researching state-based Central Panels and advocating for statewide and national expansion; developing a proposal for establishing an Advisory Council for state administrative adjudication to help ensure due process in hearings and the quality and diversity of administrative law judges; and consulting with Central Panels across the country to advise on best practices based on our research.
READ: The Need for a Central Panel Approach to Administrative Adjudication: Pros, Cons, and Selected Practices (February 2019)
Court Recording and Reporting—Monitoring how court recording systems in Cook County eviction courtrooms are being implemented and working to expand such technology into all eviction (and other) courts in the county and the state.
READ: The Case for Recording Devices in Cook County Eviction Courts (July 2016)
Domestic and Gender-Based Violence—Specialized domestic violence courts vary greatly
in composition, with some consolidating domestic relations and domestic violence into one courthouse and others providing specialized services only in pretrial or emergency proceedings. Courts which combine civil and criminal proceedings, like the one in Cook County, are in the minority, which is why Chicago Appleseed monitors its functioning.
READ:
Judicial Quality, Diversity, and Fairness—Assessing what impact different judicial selection approaches (such as a Performance Commission) have on the quality and diversity of the bench and developing best practices in Cook County. Working to produce local protocols around community Court Watching and peer mentoring for judges.
READ:
- Policy Brief: Judicial Recusal (December 2012)
- Electing Judges in Cook County: The Role of Money, Political Party, and the Voters (April 2003)
For information of our past projects and other partnerships, view our full publication library.