Jeanne writes about criminal justice and immigration. She received a bachelor’s degree in 2016 from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Jeanne has reported as an intern at the Chicago Tribune, Sacramento Bee, NBC Los Angeles, and The Star in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has also worked at the Medill Justice Project and served as managing editor of the student-run paper The Daily Northwestern. Jeanne is interested in migration, corruption, civil rights, and the intersection of law and social issues.
As he seeks retention, Cook County Circuit Judge Michael McHale faces questions about his conduct handling a series of criminal trials. Defense attorneys in one contend he engaged in improper contacts with prosecutors.
A lawsuit contends the Illinois Department of Corrections halted a debate program not for security, but because prisoners had found a way to raise concerns with legislators and other state officials.
Getting voting records of the members of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board dating back to 2013 was no easy task. Those records reveal a system in which aging prisoners locked up at least 40 years have almost no chance of winning support for their release from the board members, a majority of whom have denied about four of every five cases.
Coalition of reform groups hoped to win ruling that cash bail system discriminated against pre-trial detainees held because they could not make bail, while wealthier defendants walked free before trial. But Cook County Chancery judge concludes the lawsuit was asking for relief that was beyond her authority to grant.
A group of four residents and six community groups took the City to court on Tuesday, contending that the Chicago police department gang database includes residents simply based on their race or neighborhood. And the results are steep, the lawsuit says, impacting police stops, immigration relief, and bail consideration.
Was Cyntoia Brown, convicted of murder at age 16 and given a sentence that would make her eligible for release at age 67, given an unconstitutional life sentence?
The Illinois Supreme Court will consider whether a sentence of 50 years without parole for a 16-year-old violates the state and federal constitutions. Courts nationwide and in Illinois have struggled with where to draw the line for crimes committed by juveniles.
Supporters of the debate class at the Stateville Correctional Center, a program correction department officials abruptly suspended last month, delivered a letter Wednesday to Governor Bruce Rauner’s office demanding the program’s reinstatement and an executive order granting legislators access to prison facilities.
Last month, Illinois Department of Corrections officials abruptly suspended a popular debate class for inmates at Stateville Correctional Center that had brought in an audience legislators and state officials. Corrections officials offered no explanation of the decision to Injustice Watch.
The retired judge from Southern Illinois wore a wire in Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s to aid Operation Greylord, a federal investigation into Cook County’s judicial corruption.