Injustice Watch and the Chicago Reader examined the origins of Illinois’s HIV transmission law, how Cook County prosecutors have leveraged it, and its impacts on people charged. The investigation is part of The Circuit, a courts data project from Injustice Watch, the BGA, and DataMade.
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.
Covid-19 restrictions have led to a growing felony court backlog in Cook County. To clear it, “we have to move faster than normal,” one expert said.
Judge Diane Gordon Cannon criticized for verbal outbursts, a pro-prosecution bent and jailing of probationers for sometimes-minor infractions.
An unprecedented investigation of court data finds systematic effort to keep Judge James Linn from deciding sex charges after a controversial ruling he made years ago.
A new collaboration allows a first-of-its-kind look at more than 3 million Cook County criminal court cases since 2000.
Judge Mauricio Araujo resigned after the Illinois Courts Commission found “clear and convincing” evidence that he engaged in a pattern of inappropriate and harassing behavior toward women.
Judges Mauricio Araujo and Jackie Portman-Brown have been removed from their courtrooms as investigations into their conduct are underway.
In an open letter to Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans, reform advocates are demanding the release of as many detainees as possible in order to mitigate risks related to the new coronavirus.
The court will suspend all non-essential matters for 30 days starting Tuesday, the chief judge told presiding judges in a three-hour meeting on Friday.