Rahm Emmanuel Archives - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts

California Votes to Downgrade Drug Crimes: Is Illinois Next?

On November 4, 2014, voters in California changed yesterday’s felony drug possession into today’s misdemeanor. Voters passed a significant ballot measure, Proposition 47, a criminal reform initiative to dramatically reduce the punishment for a variety of crimes. The passage of Proposition 47 made C...

A New Mandatory Minimum for Gun Crime Will Cause Further Pre-Trial Delay And Jail Overcrowding

With the support of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, HB2265 / SB 1342 was recently introduced to the Illinois General Assembly with the goal of imposing a mandatory three-year minimum prison sentence for people convicted of illegal use of a weapon. Our friends at the John Howard Association—in recent articles o...

City of Chicago Crowdsources Ethics Reform

At https://webapps.cityofchicago.org/EthicsTaskForce/ you’ll find a growing debate among Chicagoans about how to address ethics problems that have plagued the city for years. The discussion board style site currently lists three topical forums: What ethics related requirement or reform would stre...

Chicago Transition 2011 includes Parent and Community Engagement Plan

This week, the Chicago Tribune's "Clout Street" blog reported, Mayor-elect Rahm Emmanuel released a "Chicago 2011 Transition Plan" listing his administration's objectives and strategies for achieving them. The 72-page document, available here, outlines 55 initiatives falling within four categories:...

Who Ruled that Rahm Couldn’t Run?

Whenever big political decisions come before little known judges, all eyes are on the bench. Since 1970, the Chicago Council for Lawyers (Chicago Appleseed’s partner organization), has been reviewing the performance of judges serving on Cook County Circuit Courts, as well as 1st District Candidates...