Criminal Justice Interest Group

This group studies the Cook County Criminal Justice System

The group publishes reports of findings and recommendations.


2024-2025 Activities

On March 28, 2024 the Civic Federation and the LWVCC released a report analyzing Cook County's implementation of the Pre-Trial Fairness Law.​The report, based on informal observation done by the two organizations during the first six months since the law took effect on September 18, 2023, witnessed mostly a smooth implementation so far due to the County having been particularly well-prepared to adopt the new pretrial release process. The Report can be read  on the Civic Federation website at www.civicfed.org/PretrialFairnessAct

Nov. 2024    The Criminal Justice group attended a presentation sponsored by the John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group.  Keynote Speaker was Arne Duncan from CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny), an anti-violence group.   He brought with him 2 speakers who used to be inmates and now are outreach workers keeping others out of the criminal justice system.

Oct 2024  The Criminal Justice  group attended a Graduation from Avondale Restorative Justice Court. Graduates completed all requirements, including a GED and had their records expunged.

Topics of Focus

• Elimination of cash bail
• Equal Justice within the system
• Mental Health Issues within the Criminal Justice System
• Diversion Programs
• Pretrial Screening and Assessment
• First Appearance Courts

Activities

Meetings are held every other month to discuss the information that has been gathered by interviewing the stakeholders within the system.  On the alternate months we meet to have a book discussion.  The books deal with criminal justice issues.

 The Criminal Justice Group completed a 6 week project in partnership with the Civic Federation to compare pre-trial hearings before and after the Pretrial Fairness Act takes effect January 1, 2023. Fourteen League members listened in on 25 sessions of Central Bond Court along with 2 members of the Civic Federation. We heard over 1000 cases. These findings will be compared to those we find in 2023 when we repeat the project.

Read the report with analysis and recommendations on the Civic Federation's Website.

Publications & Additional Resources

Update on the Pre Trial Systems Report of the
Criminal Justice Interest Group of LWVCC
Issued February, 2019

The update summarizes the progress made on each of the recommendations from the December 16, 2015 report and assesses further steps the Criminal Justice Interest Group will undertake to further each goal.

READ THE FULL UPDATE HERE
​

PRETRIAL SYSTEMS: REPORT OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE INTEREST GROUP, December 16, 2015.

• The result of 18 months of study including 20 interviews with stakeholders and visits to Cook County Jail, Central Bond Court, and 4 suburban bond courts
• Presents ways to reduce the jail population without diminishing public safety
• Recommendations intend to decrease the county's costs while increasing fairness in the system

The League thanks all who were interviewed for this study for their time and input.

League Recommendations to Improve Pretrial Services in Cook County

1. Discontinue the Use of Cash Bail
2. Make Thoughtful Use of Personal Recognizance I-Bonds and Electronic Monitoring
3. Improve Collaboration Among Stakeholders to Expand the Availability of Alternatives to Jail
4. Improve Communication among First Appearance Court Judges
5. Complete the Integrated Information System
6. Evaluate the Results of All Diversion Programs
7. Confirm the Validity of the Pretrial Public Safety Assessment
8. Improve the System of Drug Testing to Reduce Unnecessary Incarceration
9. Create More Locations for First Appearance Court
10. Evaluate the Value of Specialty Courts
11. Continue to Mandate Stakeholder Collaboration

See the Pretrial Systems Report for explanations and more detail.

Fast Facts
that Every Voter Should Know
on Cook County
Criminal Justice

1. Cook County spends over $1 Billion annually on public safety, which includes the Sheriff's Office, the courts, and the jail.
2. Nearly 2/3 of Cook County employees work in a sector of the public safety system.
3. The daily jail population has been reduced in recent years, and now averages just over 4000 inmates.
4. The County spends about $145 per day to house each jail inmate.

Learn More

Please contact Jan Goldberg