Latest News

by Simona Novinec, Chicago Appleseed Intern

Trial judges play a central role in the American legal system. Selection of a competent, diverse, and honest judiciary is therefore a crucial mechanism to protect judicial independence, on the one hand, and promote democratic control of judiciary on the other. Empirical studies suggest that voters are almost entirely uninformed about judge behavior (Hall 1999), and that trial judges retain office at high rates (Aspin 1999). But if this is the case, could comprehensive objective assessment of our courtrooms influence an election?

There are approximately 411 trial judges in the Circuit Court of Cook County, who stand periodically for reelection. Systemic data collection and wider dissemination of information on their judicial performance can be decisive in swaying voter opinion against judges, and increase the degree to which higher quality and better performing candidates receive more votes. A systemic court watching program is a critical and effective strategy to achieve the highest standards of the legal profession and in serving the public interest.

Concerned about the way in which courts are functioning and handling cases, Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice (hereinafter Chicago Appleseed) is formalizing an innovative court watching program. Court watchers will observe the judges and their courtroom staff, which serves our mission by strengthening the research into how the courts are functioning and by engaging members of the community in the judicial process. Court watchers are a visible reminder to judges of the impact they have on ordinary people every day.

Judicial decision-making is complicated, nuanced, and individual. Judicial systems have traditionally been characterized almost exclusively by legal forms of accountability (Sturgess and Chubb in Mohr and Contini, 2007, 2). Non-legal factors, in contrast, receive little systemic attention. Hence, the court watching model for judicial performance evaluation of the Chicago Appleseed also takes into account administrative capacity, character, diligence, and judicial temperament that can all have an important impact on judicial decision making. Our court-watchers will focus on these non-legal factors as they observe Cook County judges.

Since 2010, Chicago Appleseed has, as an essential part of its research, conducted numerous court observations across Cook County. It has sent volunteers to observe judges during different types of proceedings in the Bond Court, the Criminal Court, the Federal Immigration courtrooms, and the Child Support courtrooms. Court watchers observe the judges on-site, and record their observations and important data on specially designed forms. Chicago Appleseed incorporates these observations into its research efforts, using the information for the twin methods of enhancing education of voters involved in the election of judges, and making recommendations for the Cook County judiciary. Finally, the rationale underlying this project has been to provide members of the community a direct voice on how their courts are run, and to provide the judiciary with fresh, common sense feedback.

The premise of the court watching program is a diverse, multi-disciplinary court watching team to evaluate court proceedings, encourage fairness for parties involved in court cases, and make courts accountable to the communities they serve. The program will be staffed by volunteers who commit to the program for a period of one year, ranging from law professors and students to retired lawyers to individuals from a different field – all with an interest in impartially assessing the efficiency and effectiveness with which Cook County cases are handled by the judicial system.