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The April 26th “Change of Subject” column column by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn discusses the drop in the number of defendants released on electronic home monitoring which is contributing to the critical problem of jail overcrowding in Cook County.  The current population of Cook County Jail is approximately 10,000—just 200 under capacity—and that is well before the usual summer surge in arrests. The column specifically explores why there has been an ostensibly unexplained drop off in the number of orders issued by judges for electronic home monitoring since last November, and why the various actors in this arena, specifically Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, Timothy C. Evans, have not developed a working solution to this problem. Sheriff Dart and Judge Evans recently came together with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to discuss the matter on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, a meeting that was contentious and which contained many disagreements on the basic facts of the issue.

 Sheriff Dart contends that he needs orders, not “recommendations,” to release individuals on electronic home monitoring and that judges — not the Sheriff’s department — are best suited to gauge the public safety and court management concerns which go into making that decision. Judge Evans contends that previous orders to the Sheriff’s department were not being complied with, and the switch to issuing recommendations was driven by that noncompliance. Furthermore Judge Evans accuses Sheriff Dart of not releasing enough of the 1,500 detainees which a three-judge federal panel authorized the Sheriff to release. Sheriff Dart counters that there are simply not that many who fit within the constrained requirements of that federal order; simply too many of those in jail have violent crimes in their histories or have no homes to which electronic monitoring could apply. It is unclear that this problem would be solved if judges returned to issuing orders, just as it is unclear why they switched away from that practice in the first place. What is apparent from these discussions is a pronounced lack of coordination between the branches of criminal justice in Cook County. This deficiency in coordination has profoundly negative consequences that are hurting defendants, the larger community, and taxpayers.

 As we at Chicago Appleseed have remarked before, our county has no comprehensive criminal justice strategy and it is that lack of coordination that is keeping us from introducing early case assessment tools that would significantly reduce jail populations as they have in other cities and counties.  One of the more significant drivers of jail population is delay. In 2010 and 2011, a total of more than 20,000 defendants were jailed for an average of 25 days, only to have their cases dropped or dismissed. A Chicago Appleseed analysis of jail data indicates that as many as half of these individuals were being detained on drug charges. Other parts of the country, such as Brooklyn and Philadelphia, have instituted early case assessments for arrests, diverting or declining to prosecute the weakest cases. A 2011 Pew research report on Philadelphia’s reforms linked the policy changes to a 12% decrease in the daily jail population, 10% drop in jail and police costs, faster case processing times, and a dramatic increase in court appearance rates. The Cook County criminal justice system is comprised of numerous agencies and funding sources. We will not accomplish effective reform, including a reduction in the Cook County jail population, until be coordinate all of these parts.

One example involves the question of why we don’t have an effective early case assessment program, a question we’ve discussed previously on this blog:

So why do thousands of individuals languish in jail, without meaningful resolution to their cases, when a solution is readily available? One reason is that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office incurs all of the costs for felony review of drug arrests, while the Court, Sheriff, and others reap the benefits of lighter caseloads and lower jail population…. Only a criminal justice coordinating body can negotiate a program that improves some agencies’ bottom lines at the expense of others – in a way that is fair and effective.

Whether it is the recent issue of electronic home monitoring or the larger persistent issue of delay, the key toward solving our Jail overcrowding issue is coordination. For more, see our policy brief on Early Criminal Case Assessment in Urban Jurisdictions.

 Chicago Appleseed has been working with the Cook County Justice Advisory Council to plan a public forum on these topics. The Justice Through Efficiency: Managing An Overburdened Justice System forum is taking place today, April 29, at Kasbeer Hall, Loyola School of Law, from 3-5 pm, with reception to follow. One of the leaders of Philadelphia’s justice reform movement, President Judge Pamela Dembe, will join other justice system innovators and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to discuss efficient ways to manage a crowded urban justice system.

You can register (and submit questions for panelists) here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/smartjustice

Questions will also be fielded via Twitter until 4:30 pm on Monday, using hashtag #smartjustice