Sky Patterson is a 2022 Injustice Watch reporting resident. Sky has loved research ever since they were a political science student at Northwestern University, where their honors thesis examined the effects of stop-and-frisk policing on political participation in Chicago. During college, they also worked as a researcher for BallotReady and Bluhm Legal Clinic’s Center on Wrongful Convictions. After working in public service post-graduation, Sky became even more passionate about the accessibility of information on political institutions and the economy. They are currently a fact-checker for South Side Weekly and a reporting fellow with City Bureau, where they are writing about Chicago’s guaranteed income program. Sky loves biking, craft beer, and trying to finish a Monday New York Times crossword in under 15 minutes.
Nearly half of states have public commissions that evaluate judges’ performance. But Illinois, where voters rely on evaluations from bar associations, has historically resisted judicial reforms.
Injustice Watch convened a community conversation about systemic inequities in the Cook County courts and possible solutions last month, as part of The Circuit, our ongoing collaborative investigation into two decades of Cook County court data.