Latest News - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

Cook County Deprives Defendants of a Public Defense

Chicago, IL, May 1, 2013 -- In courtrooms across Cook County, a Chicago Appleseed investigation has confirmed, defendants are being denied a public defense solely because they have posted bond to get out of jail. The denials come without a constitutionally required hearing on the defendant’s finance...

Coordination is the Key to the Cook County Electronic Monitoring Problem

The April 26th “Change of Subject” column column by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn discusses the drop in the number of defendants released on electronic home monitoring which is contributing to the critical problem of jail overcrowding in Cook County. The current population of Cook Count...

An End to the “War” on Drugs, The Obama Administration Lays Out a Medically Oriented Strategy

Today may prove to be one of the more significant dates in recent criminal justice policy history. The White House, through the Office of National Drug Control Policy, has released its National Drug Control Strategy for 2013 and in it rejects the “law enforcement-only policy of the ‘war on drugs.’”...

Ali Abid Joins Chicago Appleseed As Criminal Justice Fellow

Chicago Appleseed is excited to announce a new addition to our team. Ali Abid joins Chicago Appleseed as a Criminal Justice Fellow. He will research and develop systemic reform within Cook County. Ali is a graduate of the John Marshall Law School where he was an editor of the John Marshall Law Revi...

Help Where it is Needed

Chicago Appleseed, with pro bono assistance from attorneys at Skadden Arps, has been evaluating recent changes to the parentage court. We’ve met with practitioners, court-personnel and legal aid attorneys familiar with the parentage court before and after it moved into the Daley Center, as well as b...