Few people anticipate ever needing to be in court, so most people are unsure what to expect if and when that time comes. Whether for a divorce or child support matter, a criminal charge, or an eviction, the legal system is opaque and difficult to navigate — especially for those unable to afford their own attorney.

Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts works in partnership with direct service providers, community organizations, and the court system itself to identify and remove the systemic barriers to justice that make courts inaccessible. Everything we do is collaborative and guided by community-led initiatives. We are a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization that has built long-standing connections with community members, journalists, academics, and justice system actors to create systemic change.

Our team of paid staff and diverse volunteers collaborate with community organizations, academics, and court system actors to strategically support community-led solutions to systemic problems with data and empirical evidence. Our collective advocacy makes the courts fairer and therefore, more effective. Working diligently together, we devise strategies to implement these solutions, inform the public about how our court system works, and encourage them to get involved.

Chicago Appleseed could not be effective in fighting for systemic change without the assistance of dedicated volunteers, community members, and sustaining donors whose commitment to justice allows us to identify and address court system barriers in Cook County.

Our work focuses on the civil courts, the criminal courts, and promoting judicial excellence; we have five diverse, volunteer-led committees which oversee our projects in these areas:

• Access to Justice (focused on general equity, transparency, and/or accessibility issues),
• Civil Liberties & Police Accountability,
• Criminal Legal System,
• Family Law & Courts, and
• Immigration Court Reform.

For more than 25 years, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers have formed a “Collaboration for Justice” focused on investigating the causes of systemic injustice in our courts, proposing effective solutions, and working for their implementation. Our joint Collaboration for Justice Program Committees are groups of between 10-100 volunteer lawyers, academics, organizers, and others who meet monthly and, cumulatively, provide thousands-of-hours of pro bono research and advocacy work for our collaborative initiatives annually.

Click here to learn more about getting involved with Chicago Appleseed.

Find out more about our work:

• • Media Coverage: www.ChicagoAppleseed.org/Press-Media/

  • Publications & Research: www.ChicagoAppleseed.org/Library/

Click here for our research ethics & standards.

Fund for Justice (d/b/a Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts) is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization and recognized as a public charity under 509(a)(2) (later modified to 509(a)(3) of the Code). Our Federal tax exempt employer identification number is 23-7059214.