Stephanie Agnew -Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

About Stephanie Agnew

Stephanie Agnew (she/her) is the Co-Executive Director of Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and a Licensed Social Worker (LSW). She leads all internal and external communications strategy and execution, and works with the program staff to successfully implement our advocacy strategies. View all posts by Stephanie Agnew →

REPORT: “Solutions rather than Obstacles” – An evaluation of the Hearing Officer Program in Cook County’s Domestic Relations Court

Every year, the Domestic Relations (DR) Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County processes approximately 40,000 divorce and child support cases. Because DR cases are handled in civil court, neither individual party -- the petitioner nor respondent -- have any right to free or accessible legal re...

Public (In)Access to Judicial Branch Data in Illinois

In 2019, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and our pro bono partner, DLA Piper, looked at the open records laws, the Freedom of Information Act, and other public access policies in all 50 states to determine where Illinois stands in terms of judicial transparency. We found that Illin...

Which states protect your right to communicate after arrest?

The Governor signed the Safety Accountability Fairness and Equity - Today (SAFE-T) Act in February of 2021. Among the many police and criminal legal system provisions in the law, the SAFE-T Act (IL PA 101-0652) solidifies the right to communicate for all people arrested in Illinois. In this...

Is police accountability in Illinois over before it began? Our review of HB 3443 found it weakens the SAFE-T Act significantly.

Introduction Early in June, the Illinois General Assembly passed HB 3443, a trailer bill to the SAFE-T Act (IL PA 101-0652) that was signed by Governor Pritzker in February. The SAFE-T Act included the Pretrial Fairness Act, ending cash bail and making other criminal justice and police reforms. T...

Testimony to the IL Supreme Court Task Force on Court Fees: Forgive Debts, Expand Full and Partial Fee Waivers, and End Regressive Funding Mechanisms

The Illinois Supreme Court's Statutory Court Fees Task Force is holding a Public Hearing on July 13, covering the impact of the Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act (CTAA) and related Supreme Court rules pertaining to court fees and costs; issues not addressed by the CTAA, including waivers in traffi...

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