Justice System Advocates Caution Against Cell Phone Ban in Cook County Courts

Last month, the Cook County Circuit Court announced an electronic device ban, effective January 14, 2013, in all Cook County courts except the Daley Center, including the George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th Street and California Avenue. After discussing the proposed ban with many loca...
January 10, 2013

Forum on the Forgotten Guantanamo Detainees

This program will focus on half of the men still detained in Guantánamo. For at least 3 years, these 86 men have been cleared for release by unanimous agreement of the nation’s top intelligence, national security, law enforcement, and military officials. Yet taxpayers continue to spend $70 million p...
January 8, 2013

Testimony: Justice Advocates Oppose Videoconferenced Criminal Proceedings

Last week, Chicago Appleseed, Chicago Council of Lawyers, and several other criminal justice advocates submitted testimony objecting to an Illinois Supreme Court Proposal 12-01 (P.R. 0196). Proposal 12-01 creates a rule permitting a criminal defendant to appear in many different proceedings via clo...
December 4, 2012

Policy Brief: Use of Data in Criminal Court Performance Measurement

Our latest policy brief, "Use of Data in Criminal Court Performance Measurement" is now available. This brief explores the benefits of measuring criminal court performance, shares two case studies of where doing so has been successful, and then offers one potential application to Cook County: t...
December 3, 2012