Letter to the Editor of the Daily Law Bulletin

Our letter to the editor which ran in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on August 19, 2016 is reproduced below. Court costs, fines, fees: New approach needed now By Steven E. Art, Matthew McClellan Daniels, Erika M. Washington and Malcolm C. Rich The Collaboration for Justice is the joint social just...
August 22, 2016

Advocates Call for an End to the Presumptive Shackling of Juveniles in Court

The Illinois Justice Project has submitted a proposed proposed rule to the state Supreme Court Rules Committee to reform the practice of shackling children appearing in juvenile court. The Committee referred the proposed rule to the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Judicial Conference in order to s...
August 18, 2016

Ruling in Case Concerning Judicial Retention or Re-Election

In March, we wrote about a complaint filed with the State Board of Elections, concerning three judges in southern Illinois’ 20th judicial circuit—Chief Judge John Baricevic and Circuit Judges Robert Haid and Robert LeChien—who resigned in August and announced their intentions to run in the general e...
August 12, 2016

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

Appleseed Staffer Attends Chicago Movement Lawyering Retreat

On July 15th and 16th, I was lucky enough to participate in a “Movement Lawyering Retreat” for Chicago attorneys and activists. The retreat was a small collection of lawyers and organizers brought together by two dedicated individuals: Candace Moore and Quinn Rallins. Their idea is to ultimately bui...
July 27, 2016