The Job of Court Reform

Judge Sheryl Pethers has created a stir with her retirement announcement, which highlights aspects of her judicial service that left her concerned about the administration of the civil courts in Cook County. Chicago Appleseed has a long history of working with the courts, to improve deficiencies id...
August 4, 2016

Candidate Questionnaires from the Cook County Clerk of the Court Race

A note from the Chicago Council of Lawyers, our partner organization in the Collaboration for Justice: The Primary Election in Illinois is March 15th, and early voting is happening now. The Chicago Council of Lawyers wants voters to focus on electing the most qualified judges possible, but there ar...
March 7, 2016

Ruling in Sanchez v. Torres in the Illinois Appellate Court

In August, Chicago Appleseed joined an amicus authored by the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project of the George Washington University Law School and attorneys at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP filed before the Illinois Appellate court in Sanchez v. Torres. At issue in the case w...
February 2, 2016

Constitutionality and the Six Member Jury

In June of this year, an amendment to 735 ILCS 5/2-1105 went into effect, reducing the size of juries in civil trials in Illinois from twelve jurors to six. The ostensible purpose of the reduction in jury size was to accommodate a rise in juror pay (from $17.20 per day in Cook County to $25 for the...
January 6, 2016

Judicial Elections, Ethics Rules and the Ongoing Impact of Campaign Financing

The Tennessee Rules for judicial election campaign conduct are considered an excellent model for Supreme Court rules in jurisdictions that elect judges. In early December, the Tennessee Supreme Court amended the provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct regarding judges and judicial candidates’ ele...
January 4, 2016