Chicago Appleseed In The News
The Waiting Game
July 07, 2008
Uvion Junior was stabbed 20 times during a fight last month involving 20 inmates in Cook County Jail. It wasn't his first jailhouse injury. Junior, 28, was stabbed in a fight in 2003, according to his wife, Deandria Junior. He has been awaiting trial on murder charges for six years -- making him one of the longest-serving inmates at Cook County. Long-term inmates like Junior are the most likely to be involved in jail violence, according to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. And while the number of long-term inmates at County has fallen over the last five years, it remains a costly problem -- eating up millions of dollars for food and shelter, delaying justice for both victims and defendants, and making conditions tougher for everyone inside.
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Politician from Evanston seeks to diversify office
January 30, 2008
He appears to be a cuddly, bear-like figure, but when Commissioner Larry Suffredin starts talking about guns, he growls. "I've spent too much time with the 32 children's families that were killed (by guns) from the Chicago Public School system in the last 12 months," said Suffredin, the 13th District Cook County Commissioner. "We've got to go to the source of this evil, and that's the source of the guns."
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Cook State's Attorney Hopefuls Trade Barbs
January 25, 2008
Democratic Cook County state's attorney candidate Anita Alvarez accused opponent Howard Brookins Jr. on Thursday of dragging his feet on child-support obligations, but he called the attack "disgraceful" and said the dispute stemmed from bills involving a doctor not fully covered by his insurance. The highly charged dust-up comes less than two weeks before voters will pick a Democratic nominee in the contest to replace retiring State's Atty. Richard Devine.
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Candidates divided on minor drug causes
January 24, 2008
In one of the clearest dividing lines in the Cook County state's attorney race, the one Republican and six Democratic candidates are sharply divided on whether to allow police officers to give out warnings instead of filing formal charges for possession of drugs in small amounts.
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The impending crisis in criminal justice: The costs of neglect
January 22, 2008
The judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers in our felony courts are overwhelmed with drug cases. Proposed budget cuts, on top of cuts already made, threaten a complete breakdown. So what? Why should you care? Some things to consider:
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Report on Chicago's Felony Courts
December 23, 2007
The Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice recently released "A Report on Chicago's Felony Courts." It's a lengthy report at 123 pages - I just skimmed it - and it clearly provides an extensive look at Chicago's felony courts, relying in part on interviews and/or surveys of judges, prosecutors, public defenders, private attorneys, victims, and defendants. (The Chicago Police Department didn't respond to requests to participate.) The researchers also relied on 160 hours of courtroom observation conducted by law students. Oddly, three law students didn't bother to turn over their materials after doing the observations.
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Unjust penalty system
December 15, 2007
A death penalty system that does not ensure the fair and just administration of law's ultimate punishment is reprehensible. Full implementation of essential safeguards designed to prevent wrongful imposition of the irrevocable sentence of death is more than an aspiration. It is a necessity.
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Cook officials say court system near "meltdown": report says funding, reforms are needed badly
December 14, 2007
Cook County's top prosecutor and public defender -- opponents in so many cases -- made a unified plea Thursday, lambasting budget cuts they say have stretched their offices to the limit and beyond.
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Criminal courts overburdened: report
December 14, 2007
Cook County's criminal courts are teetering under a massive volume of drug cases, mentally ill defendants and demands by elected officials who fail to provide adequate funding, according to a report by a legal advocacy group.
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Cook County criminal courts overwhelmed, report says. Leaders say budget, staff cuts are biggest problem
December 13, 2007
Huge numbers of nonviolent drug offenders and mentally ill defendants have overwhelmed Cook County's criminal justice system, requiring new infusions of government spending to address the problem, a criminal justice advocacy group said in a report made public today.
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