Links of Interest: April 1 – 6
Judicial Performance
- Elected judges across the country are increasingly uncomfortable with the demands–and implications–of fundraising. The Washington Post covers the perils of campaign finance and the judiciary in the era of the Super PAC.
While deep-pocketed super PACs and ultra-wealthy donors have attracted plenty of attention in the presidential contest this year, they are also making waves further down the political food chain. The mere possibility that a rich benefactor or interest group with endless amounts of money could swoop in, write massive checks and remake an entire court for ideological reasons has prompted judges here in Florida and elsewhere to prepare for battles they never expected to fight.
See our previous posts on judicial ethics.
Criminal Justice
- Illinois’ supermax prison, Tamms, has a reputation for housing “the worst of the worst” offenders. But with 1/4 of its population is over age 50, is that still a fair description? via Suntimes Backtalk Blog
There have been attempts to tweak prison policy for years. But this session, the Illinois General Assembly is going to take a crack at comprehensive prison reform, including the way prisoners are classified for maximum or minimum security. We’ll see how that affects Tamms and other prisons, prison policy, public safety and the Illinois budget.
Related: Vera Institute for Justice’s Tina Chiu, “When again in place means aging prison.”
Community Justice
- Cook County President Preckwinkle, Chicago Mayor Emmanuel, and Governor Quinn announced a new website converging data from a number of important areas including public safety and education. We’d love to see web-based access for Cook County Clerk information as the next step.
Anyone is now able to find, explore and share online resources across jurisdictional boundaries using a single web interface based on common themes such as healthcare, public safety, housing and education. By bringing the data together it ensures that the three governments can begin to speak a singular “data language” and further exemplifies all three governments’ commitment to open government.