Latest News

Judicial Performance and Elections

• The Sun-Times called for a rewrite of the rules on judicial recusal.

We will be co-sponsoring a forum on judicial independence and recusal standards on May 23. Sponsor Justice at Stake has a resource page on recusal. Along with Chicago Appleseed, co-sponsor the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform surveyed Illinois Supreme Court candidates over issues of campaign finance and recusal and, co-sponsor, American Constitution Society hosted a series of screenings of A Question of Integrity: Politics, Ethics, and the Supreme Court which explores financial and personal relationships between judges and individuals or institutions that give rise to the appearance of impropriety,and  the need to formally apply the Code of Conduct to the Court, reform the recusal process, and enforce the Ethics in Government Act.

• The AP gives 6 Reasons Why It’s the Year of Big Money in Politics, including “More Ways to Give than Ever,” and “The Rise of the Political Sugar Daddy.”

Criminal Justice

• The Crime Report discusses a study of prosecutorial misconduct and attorney disciplinary actions undertaken by a coalition of innocence projects. Here’s how one such case concluded:

“On April 11, the court found that the former prosecutors had conspired with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to bring wrongful indictments against their political opponents, including judges, and conducted improper investigations from 2006 to 2010, when Thomas resigned as county attorney. An analysis by the Arizona Republic News estimates that the actions have cost taxpayers in the county more than $10 million.”

• The Veritas Institute, a member of the coalition, spotlights a new book, Wrongful Conviction: International Perspectives on Miscarriages of Justice, by UC Irvine professor C. Ronald Huff that collects essays comparing systems of justice in the U.S. and Europe to see if the structure contribute to prosecutorial misconduct or wrongful convictions. Download an excerpt from the book here.
• A special prosecutor was appointed in Cook County this week to look into the 2004 death of David Koschman.
• Youth Today reports that Annie E Casey Foundation President & CEO Patrick McCarthy called for a juvenile justice system that “saves young lives rather than one destroying young lives. It will happen if the people working with youth “have the will, commitment and the courage to make the changes needed.”
• The use of incarceration is expanding to include “debtor’s prison,” reports the Huffington Post. And more people are suffering the justice system’s flaws:

“Breast cancer survivor Lisa Lindsay of Herrin, Illinois was put in debtors’ prison over a $280 medical bill that was sent to her by accident, the Associated Pressreports (h/t The Daily Mail). Even after Lindsay was told she didn’t have to pay the bill, it was sent to a collection agency. Eventually state troopers took her from her home in handcuffs. Lindsay ended up having to pay $600 to settle the charges.”

Read more about special prosecutors in a Slate Magazine “Ask the Explainer” column and at the Cook County State’s Attorney Office Website.

Immigration

The Supreme Court heard argument this week on Arizona’s immigration law, SB1070. Here’s what some bloggers have said: