Category Archives: Criminal Justice

By Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst & Staff Attorney The Cook County Criminal courts are disturbingly behind on resolving criminal cases. In April 2020, the Cook County Circuit Court, like many courts around the country, closed its doors for all but the “most urgent matters” – prim...

Both this morning and yesterday, the Chicago Tribune published an editorial and an analysis, respectively, attacking bail reform in Cook County and the State’s Attorney’s (SA) felony dismissal rates. The information published in their report on SA Kim Foxx  is well-analyzed, and - despite the T...

Following a recent report from the CDC that the Cook County Jail has been successful in containing the COVID-19 outbreak within its walls, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was quick to tell the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday that he responded in the “quickest and most massive way.” Appearing before the Cook...

Across the country, regressive court fines, administrative costs, and filing fees are functioning to penalize people solely for their poverty. Court costs, fines, and fees (also known as “monetary sanctions”) exist in both the civil and criminal realms of the justice system and are applied in al...