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What We Read, September 19-23, 2011

Criminal Justice Court Reform:

• Youth Today runs through the 2012 funding legislation approved by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science last week. The spending bill eliminates most federal funding for juvenile justice programs.

• The Economist discusses how the death penalty is disappearing slowly in the world, with only 23 countries still committing judicial killings. Although Illinois abolished capital punishment in March of this year, the U.S. remains among the minority of nations still executing prisoners.

• Chicago Police Superintendent McCarthy considers all options to close a $190 million shortfall in CPD’s budget. Chicago Appleseed has a proposal that will save CPD money and put more cops on the street: felony drug review. More coming soon.

Judicial Elections and Judiciary Reform:

• Nest week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will host a fundraiser for Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis, who faces  a retention election in 2012.

• Nearly $44 million was spent on Wisconsin judicial elections this year, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Chicago Appleseed has long advocated for great transparency and limits on judicial campaign contributions.

 Immigration Court Reform:

• The ACLU discusses H.R. 2189, the Death in Custody Reporting Act, and what it means for immigration reform.

• Cook Count Commissioners ordered Sheriff Tom Dart to stop holding immigrants in jail for federal immigration authorities.

 Community Justice:

• On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John Bates dismissed a challenge to the provision of the Voting Rights Act, reauthorized in 2006, which requires states or local governments with histories of racial discrimination to get federal approval before making changes in election procedures. The Constitutional Law Professors Blog discusses the action here.