Policy Brief: Judicial Recusal

Last month, Chicago Appleseed shared a policy brief on judicial recusal standards with the Illinois Supreme Court. The policy brief, written by staff attorney Elizabeth Monkus with assistance from staff intern Sarah Swearer, focuses on the features of meaningful recusal standards and procedures.  Sp...
January 18, 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

Tools: Take A Sample Ballot With You When You Vote for Cook County Judges

Early voting has begun! Below are sample ballots for Cook County judicial elections. Click each ballot to find a list of every judge up for retention in Cook County, followed by a recommendation for retention. In Cook County, Judges must receive a "Yes" vote from at least 60% of voters in order to r...
October 22, 2012

Report: The 2012 Judicial Performance Commission

The 2012 Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County (JPC or Commission) has completed its evaluations of the Circuit Court and Appellate Court Judges whose terms expire this year. The Report is available here as a .pdf download. Each judge’s report consists of a professional biography (compiled...
October 11, 2012