Judicial Campaign Finance, Recusal and Amici.

Chicago Appleseed and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform have submitted an amicus brief, written by pro bono attorneys at DLA Piper, to the Illinois Supreme Court as it reconsiders Avery v. State Farm. We are excited for this opportunity to address the Illinois Supreme Court on the issue iss...
November 14, 2011

Recusal Standards for Judges

Finding ways to ensure the competence and integrity of the judicial system is a research and advocacy priority at Chicago Appleseed. We consider ways to advocate for improvement through our court-watching projects, the research and support we give to the Judicial Performance Commission, and in our r...
August 5, 2011

A Call for Transparency: Illinois Judicial Vacancies Should Be Made Public

This piece originally appeared at the Huffington Post. When an Illinois judge quits or retires before the end of her term, Article VI, Section 12 of the Illinois Constitution allows the Illinois Supreme Court to select her replacement. This process happens behind closed doors –the vacancy is not an...
June 24, 2011

Links of Interest

What We Read, June 13-17, 2011 Criminal Justice Court Reform: SCotUS Blog analyzes the 5-4 decision in J.D.B. v. North Carolina (.pdf), in which the Court has ruled for the first time that police must take into account the age of a youth they intend to question when deciding whether or not they m...
June 17, 2011

Evaluating Judges

87 percent of all state court judges face election to gain or retain their seats, according to the National Center for State Courts, with 39 states electing at least some of their judges. State courts in the United States are unique in the world—neither our own federal system, nor any other nation,...
May 25, 2011