Jennifer Vollen-Katz Articles

The Long Wait

Aging prisoners left to arbitrary process to win release

By Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang | October 2, 2017

A state board uses an arbitrary and opaque process to decide whether prisoners convicted of committing violent crimes decades ago should be released, an Injustice Watch review has found. The process is wracked by subjectivity, and that problem is not confined to Illinois.

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Las hospitalizaciones por Covid-19 en el Departamento de Correccionales de Illinois, provocan angustia a los seres queridos de los encarcelados

Este artículo, publicado originalmente en inglés por Injustice Watch, está disponible en español gracias al proyecto "Traduciendo las noticias de Chicago", del Instituto de Noticias Sin Fines de Lucro (INN). Read in English.

Our commitment to anti-racism

We, the Injustice Watch staff, feel pain and anger, like so many in our community, over the police killing of George Floyd and the systemic racism his death represents. The list of Black people whose lives have been cut short by police brutality is excruciatingly long.

2020 Judicial Primary Election Guide

13 states have never exonerated a prisoner based on DNA evidence. Here’s why.

Hundreds of state prisoners have successfully used DNA evidence to win exonerations in the past three decades — except in 13 states. The states are Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont.

Cook County judicial candidate, colleague misled jury into wrongful conviction

This is the first of a series of Injustice Watch reports on candidates and campaigning for the Cook County Circuit Court 2018 elections. Longtime Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Gerber achieved his lifelong dream in December 2016 when the state Supreme Court appointed him to the Cook County Circuit Court, filling a vacancy. But as he now runs to win a full six-year term, Gerber faces a potential obstacle: Another Cook County judge has ruled that Gerber and a second prosecutor made false statements to a jury that led to a wrongful conviction.