Kim Foxx Archives

Chicago man becomes first in Illinois to get reduced sentence under new law

A law passed in 2021 empowered prosecutors to revisit excessive sentences, but so far, only two people have been released. Said one: ‘Two years into it, it’s helped two people?’

by Maya Dukmasova September 28, 2023January 30, 2024

A figure stands in front of an arcade-style claw game filled with people. At the back is a door marked DOC. On the floor is a folder marked "State's Attorney's files."

Prosecutors

Three strikes for Cook County prosecutors

Illinois’ prosecutor-initiated resentencing law was supposed to be a progressive policy win. So far, it’s yielded no winners.

by Maya Dukmasova December 19, 2022March 15, 2024

Four people in professional dress seated behind a table with microphones in front of them, speaking on a panel about the Cook County courts.

Court Administration

6 takeaways from our community conversation about systemic issues in the Cook County courts

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.

by Maureen Dunne and J. Patrick Patterson September 16, 2022December 5, 2023

A man sifts through a binder of documents laid out on the hood of his car in a parking lot, while looking at the camera.

Prosecutors

Hundreds more Black Chicagoans are pleading guilty to gun-possession charges. Here’s one possible reason why.

As Chicago police have made more gun arrests, prosecutors are taking nearly all cases through the secretive grand jury process, where indictments are close to a sure thing.

by Josh McGhee June 17, 2022August 20, 2024

Prosecutors

The history and harm behind Illinois’s criminal HIV transmission law

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.

by Adam M. Rhodes June 7, 2021January 8, 2024

Prosecutors

Kim Foxx claims victory in Cook County State’s Attorney race, defeating Pat O’Brien

Foxx has been an advocate of criminal justice reform and has said she wants to create a Chicago that is more equal.

by Kelly Bauer, Jake Wittich and Jamie Nesbitt Golden November 4, 2020December 5, 2023

Cook County Jail

As coronavirus spreads in Cook County jail, 300 people have been released

Data shows people are still being booked into the jail, even as 17 detainees and four correctional officers have tested positive so far for the virus that causes COVID-19.

by Jonah Newman March 25, 2020December 5, 2023

Bail and Pretrial

Breaking: Former judges, prosecutors urge Illinois Supreme Court to reform bail

The state Supreme Court is urged to reform the bail system statewide, ensuring that defendants would not be held in custody awaiting trial only because of their poverty.

by Injustice Watch Staff July 9, 2018December 5, 2023

2018 Retention

As Cook County Judge Coghlan seeks retention, concerns over lawsuit, rulings

Cook County judge Matthew Coghlan is among 62 Cook County judges who will ask voters to retain them for new terms in the November election. But Coghlan has some issues, including a current lawsuit contending he conspired with a disgraced Chicago police detective to frame two men for murder.

by Mari Cohen and Rick Tulsky June 28, 2018February 6, 2024

Less than Life

Little hope of release for more than 160 Illinois juvenile offenders

Across the country, juvenile offenders are being released from prison based on recognition that human brains continue to develop for the first two and a half decades of life. Nevertheless in Illinois, many who commit crimes as teenagers are likely destined to die in custody.

by Emily Hoerner and Jeanne Kuang May 6, 2018January 30, 2024

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