Report Finds Bail Reform in Chicago Reduced Pretrial Incarceration Without Hurting Public Safety A growing body of evidence suggests that it’s possible to reduce or even eliminate the use of money bail without increasing crime. Ethan Corey
Reform Advocates Want To Oust Illinois Judge Who Fought To Detain Young Children A coalition of organizations is hoping Michael Toomin, who is also unwilling to implement diversion programs, loses his retention election. Kira Lerner
In Arizona, a County Attorney Candidate’s Past Seems To Contradict Her Pro-Reform Stance Julie Gunnigle, who is running in Maricopa County, says she supports alternatives to incarceration. But a decade ago in Illinois, she prosecuted a woman for recording phone calls and helped put her in jail for 18 months. Meg O'Connor
Dozens Of Reports From Inside Cook County Jail Paint A Grim Picture As COVID-19 Cases Soar Prisoners say the jail, which has seen more than 800 confirmed cases, is a ‘death trap’ plagued by sanitary issues and a lack of testing. Their testimonies stand at stark odds with the sheriff’s office, which says it is keeping ‘staff and detainees as safe as possible.’ Maya Dukmasova
Illinois Man Alleges Police Illegally Forced Him To Undergo A Strip Search, Rectal Exam According to a complaint, police in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, subjected Tylus Allen Jr. to invasive searches, all of which turned up nothing. Aaron Morrison
It’s Time to Fight the Democratic Mayors Who Are Champions of the Carceral State The mayors of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco wrap themselves in the language of progressivism, but when it comes to the criminal legal system they’re Trumpian. Kelly Hayes
Chicago’s Top Prosecutor: Clearing Marijuana Records Will Be ‘Life-Changing’ Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is partnering with a technology nonprofit to expunge tens of thousands of minor marijuana convictions. Other jurisdictions could follow. Kira Lerner
How a Tool to Help Judges May Be Leading Them Astray In Cook County, Illinois, 99 percent of defendants deemed ‘high risk’ for pretrial violence don’t reoffend. Ethan Corey
In Chicago, Rethinking the Link Between Crime and Incarceration A new report shows that a progressive approach, like the one advanced by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, can help decrease jail populations—and crime. Kira Lerner
The Appeal Podcast: Generational Harm, A Hidden Cost of Mass Incarceration With Chicago activist Celia Colón Adam H. Johnson
Chicago is Tracking Kids With GPS Monitors That Can Call and Record Them Without Consent Cook County has a new contract for juvenile ankle monitors that critics say are an invasion of privacy. Kira Lerner
As States Look To Cut Jail Populations, Electronic ‘Miniature Prisons’ Are On the Rise There are more than 2,700 people on electronic monitoring in Cook County, Illinois, alone. Kira Lerner
Justice in America Episode 16: A Conversation with Kim Foxx Josie and Clint talk to Cook County's head prosecutor. Josie Duffy Rice, Clint Smith
For The First Time, A Chicago Judge Could Lose His Seat For Being Too ‘Tough on Crime’ No Cook County judge has lost a retention election in 28 years. Bryce Covert
One Year After Cook County’s Bail Reform, Court Watchers Say Things Are Getting Worse Judges are still setting bail at unaffordable levels, and more people are being held without bond. Bryce Covert
