Criminal Justice Archives - Page 20 of 49 - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

Sheriff Tom Dart is pushing a concerning bill through the Illinois legislature that would give unprecedented power to jail officials to lengthen an individual’s prison sentence due to discipline violations.

By Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst and Staff Attorney SB 416 allows jail officials to use their internal disciplinary boards to remove up to a year of pre-trial sentence credit for inmates who are found to have violated jail rules by committing “public indecency” or “assault or battery of a c...

HB 1115-The Mandatory Supervised Release Reentry Freedom Act Moves to the Illinois Senate

HB 1115-The Mandatory Supervised Release Reentry Freedom Act moved forward to passage last week by being approved by the state’s lower house by a vote of 62-47. This bill would eliminate the use of electronic monitoring for people who have completed their state prison sentences and are not required...

Proposed Law Would Guarantee Prompt Access to a Phone – and a Lawyer – for Arrestees

By Sarah Staudt, Senior Policy Analyst at Chicago Appleseed and Staff Liaison to the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee of Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers. One of the most timeworn media depictions of the criminal justice system is a character in a lock-up cell yel...

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday, the Coalition to End Money Bond organized the Rally to End Money Bail with special guest, Matt Forte, to mark the one year anniversary of the General Order 18.8A. For those who couldn't make it, you can still check out the rally here. The Coalition has also issued an updated report to mar...

The Stories Behind Criminal Justice Debt, pt.2

By Lindsay Hagy, Pro Bono Volunteer and Chair of the Court Costs, Fines, and Fees Working Group This week Governor Rauner signed HB 4594, The Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act, into law. The law will go into effect in 2019 and will help many Illinoisans who could be negatively impacted by...