News
Three strikes for Cook County prosecutors
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Illinois’ prosecutor-initiated resentencing law was supposed to be a progressive policy win. So far, it’s yielded no winners.
Events
6 takeaways from our community conversation about systemic issues in the Cook County courts
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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.
The Circuit
Hundreds more Black Chicagoans are pleading guilty to gun-possession charges. Here’s one possible reason why.
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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.
ACT UP
The history and harm behind Illinois’s criminal HIV transmission law
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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.
Police and Prosecutors
Kim Foxx claims victory in Cook County State’s Attorney race, defeating Pat O’Brien
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Foxx has been an advocate of criminal justice reform and has said she wants to create a Chicago that is more equal.
Coronavirus
As coronavirus spreads in Cook County jail, 300 people have been released
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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.
News
Breaking: Former judges, prosecutors urge Illinois Supreme Court to reform bail
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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.
News
As Cook County Judge Coghlan seeks retention, concerns over lawsuit, rulings
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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.
Longreads
Little hope of release for more than 160 Illinois juvenile offenders
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Across the country, juvenile offenders are being released from prison based on recognition they are not as mature as adults. In Illinois, many who commit crimes as teenagers are still likely destined to die in custody.
Cook County Judicial Primary Election March 2018
Cook County judicial candidate, colleague misled jury into wrongful conviction
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Cook County judge said judicial candidate Michael Gerber and his co-counsel’s statements in a recently overturned conviction “amounted to a purposeful due process violation that led to petitioner’s conviction.”