For decades, Illinois courts have written themselves out of the state’s Freedom of Information Act. A new bill could change that and bring much-needed transparency to the court system.
Commentary
Cook County judges are violating the SAFE-T Act’s electronic monitoring reforms
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The law requires that people on electronic monitoring be allowed to go grocery shopping or take out the trash, but judges — with the help of Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart — have denied dozens of people this ‘essential movement.’
News Analysis
The conservative backlash to the SAFE-T Act is nothing new
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Throughout history, anytime there’s progress made in Black liberatory work, there’s often an oppressive force on the other side using all their might to shut it down, writes The TRiiBE’s Tiffany Walden.
Commentary
Where is the urgency to decarcerate the Cook County Jail?
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While the Cook County Jail experiences its worst Covid outbreak yet, county officials drag their feet on steps that could save lives.
Commentary
Police sexual misconduct and the ‘credibility discount’
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“Credibility is a form of power, meted out along familiar lines of power,” writes Northwestern University law professor Deborah Tuerkheimer in response to our recent investigation into sexual harassment allegations against an Aurora police officer.
Commentary
How I visualized the turbulent tenures of Chicago’s FOP presidents
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Local artist Veronica Martinez describes how she approached illustrating portraits of the eight leaders of Chicago’s largest police union.
Commentary
3 challenges and opportunities for the new Cook County public defender
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A fair and equitable justice system depends on the public defenders whose job it is to represent those people who cannot afford a lawyer. Public defense work is civil rights work. It is the public defender who raises questions about interrogation methods, unlawful police stops, and excessive bail. It is also racial justice work. Nowhere is racial injustice more apparent than in the impact our criminal laws have had on people of color, particularly Black people.