Latest News - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

Chicago Attorneys urge President Obama to release 86 uncharged Guantánamo detainees

On July 25, 2013 a coalition of Chicago lawyers issued an open letter to President Obama, urging him to release the 86 detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp who have been cleared since 2010 for release by the President’s own Guantánamo Review Task Force, consisting of various agencies inclu...

The Illinois Access to Justice Act

Governor Quinn signed the Access to Justice Act, HB3111, on Thursday, August 15, 2013. Although the bill is aimed primarily at helping veterans and active duty servicemembers who are facing civil lawsuits, the law also provides funding for legal self-help centers in law libraries, creates a task f...

Creative Commons License, attribution Randy von Liski

Chief Judge Evans Orders Indigence Hearing Reform in Response to Chicago Appleseed Investigation

Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, Timothy C. Evans, issued General Administrative Order No. 2013-11 yesterday in response to a Chicago Appleseed investigation that uncovered a practice where judges were denying defendants a public defender without the required indigence hearing. The Chi...

Court Battle Over Changes to Arizona’s Commission on Court Appointments

The Brennan Center and Justice at Stake have filed an amicus brief in a challenge to an April 2013 law changing the process by which Arizona’s Commission on Appellate Court Appointments recommends candidates to fill judicial vacancies. The April legislation both requires the nominating commission to...

What E-Filing Can Do for the Courts and the Public

Last week, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (account required) reported on the progress of the Cook County’s conversion to e-filing. The article directs readers to a survey circulated by the Illinois Supreme Court’s Automation and Technology Committee, which is collecting information about who is and...