Chicago Appleseed

Court Observation & Education program Improve your understanding of the courts and contribute to local research and advocacy by court-watching. Chicago Appleseed trains community members of all backgrounds to observe criminal and civil court proceedings. Sign up to use your insights to guide our advocacy! Our ongoing civil asset forfeiture project is entirely virtual. You can learn about the civil legal system from your home. Civil Asset Forfeiture Hearings Join us and our partners at UIC for a second round of court-watching in civil asset forfeiture cases. [Strikethrough] Training: Tuesday, February 17, 6-7:30 PM Training: Wednesday, March 18, 6-7:30 PM Sign up for a training session: chicagoappleseed.org/coep-training Chicago Appleseed logo

Back by popular demand...another court-watching training! Sign up at chicagoappleseed.org/coep-training.

March 2026 Cook County Judicial Election Guide | Injustice Watch Injustice Watch's guide to the March 2026 Cook County judicial primary elections.

It's time to CHECK YOUR JUDGES BAYYYYBEEEEE!!!!

Unbelievably excited to share our team's labor of love for the 2026 primary election. There are some doozies in here. Don't vote without it!

#checkyourjudges

2026primary.injusticewatch.org

Court Observation + Education Program We’re back with TWO exciting new court-watching projects, which are both virtual! Domestic Violence pretrial detention hearings Help us understand the arguments and atmosphere of pretrial detention hearings for domestic violence cases. Training: Tuesday, February 10, 6-7:30 PM Civil Asset Forfeiture Hearings Join us and our partners at UIC for a second round of court-watching in civil asset forfeiture cases. Training: Tuesday, February 17, 6-7:30 PM Sign up for a training session: chicagoappleseed.org/coep-training

Check out our two upcoming virtual court-watching projects, which will be running simultaneously! Court-watching is vital for our research and advocacy efforts and can be a great learning experience for volunteers.

Are you in? Register for a training session at chicagoappleseed.org/coep-training

Register and join the Civil Disagreements Virtual Program ‘Unitary Executive Theory: Legitimate Constitutional Theory or Path To Dictatorship?’ on January 22, 2026, at 1 pm EST.

1 hour of CLE will be available to Illinois lawyers from the Chicago Council of Lawyers.

tinyurl.com/unitaryexecu...

One Year Later, Still “Punishing Fear”: How the Criminalization of Gun Possession Has Changed in a Year - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts One year ago, Chicago Appleseed published a report about the rampant criminalization of gun possession in Cook County, titled Punishing Fear: The Devastating Impacts of the War on Gun Possession […]

One year after Chicago Appleseed published a report about the rampant criminalization of gun possession in Cook County, we're looking at how certain policies implemented by the Cook County State’s Attorney have exacerbated the issue.

Read more on our blog:

Evicted in the Dark: What We Learned from Observing Eviction Courts Join us for a community conversation at Third Space about: The eviction process in Cook County Our findings from court-watching eviction proceedings What’s next for our court-watching program... including our next project! Thursday January 15th 6:30 - 8:00 PM Third Space 716 W Addison St Register today at chicagoappleseed.org/eviction-event

Join us TOMORROW for a community conversation about eviction in Cook County! We will also be announcing our next court-watching project...watch this space.

Thanks for coming!

“They are taking guns away,” said Naomi Johnson, co-executive director of the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, “but also incarcerating people and continuing cycles of poverty, disconnection and disinvestment in communities.”

Learn more on the Chicago Reporter's coverage at buff.ly/43pW3qq

Evicted in the dark: What we learned from observing eviction courts Join us for a community conversation at Third Space about: The eviction process in Cook County Our findings from court-watching eviction proceedings What’s next for our court-watching program Thursday January 15th 6:30 - 8:00 PM Third Space 716 W Addison St

Wanna hear what we learned from observing eviction courts? Register for this free January event at chicagoappleseed.org/eviction-event.

We're only one week away from this community teach-in about the Cook County State's Attorney's policies and their impacts. Register for free at bit.ly/SATeach-in!

This #GivingTuesday, consider supporting Chicago Appleseed—an organization that shares your values of government transparency and accountability, equitable and accessible justice, and community self-determination.

Turn your values into action by making a donation at bit.ly/25_GivingTue... today.

Tomorrow marks one year since Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neil Burke took office. Check out her report card below, then join us on December 10th at Grace Place for a teach-in on how communities are fighting back against these harmful policies. Register at bit.ly/SATeach-in

Pretrial jailing in Cook County has increased dramatically since Eileen O'Neill Burke took office last year.

Learn about the harmful policies that State's Attorney Burke has put in place & how communities are fighting back on 12/10 at Grace Place(637 S Dearborn)!

Register at: bit.ly/SATeach-in

UPDATE: State’s Attorney Burke announced on Friday that she is expanding this policy citywide, despite the call to end the policy from 130+ organizations and community leaders. Read our statement here: www.chicagoappleseed.org/2025/11/25/s...

State’s Attorney’s Decision to Eliminate Felony Review of Gun Possession Charges Is Ripe for Abuse - Coalition to End Money Bond In January 2025, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office instituted what they call the “Felony Review Bypass Program,” which allows the Chicago Police Department to file felony charges directly for ...

We are alarmed by State’s Attorney Burke's elimination of felony review in gun possession cases.

This policy ignores decades of police misconduct, while signaling that Burke is not committed to preventing, combatting, or protecting people from misconduct.
endmoneybond.org/states-attor...

Join us on Dec. 10 for a teach in on our new state attorney's first year in office: actionnetwork.org/events/commu...

For more on civil asset forfeiture, check out our report on observations from Cook County’s courtrooms.
www.chicagoappleseed.org/wp-content/u...

What happens to your property after an arrest? South Side Weekly covers the difficulty in getting your personal belongings back after an arrest - with a nod to our civil asset forfeiture work.

Read it here: southsideweekly.com/getting-your...

Join our partners at the Free2Move Coalition and the First Defense Legal Aid for a Traffic Stops: Know Your Rights event on Saturday, November 15, 2025 (2–4PM) at Walls Turned Sideways, 2717 W Madison St.

Food will be provided!

🔗 Register now: bit.ly/TrafficStopsTownhall

Date changed to December 10th Community teach-in! Who's Your Jailer? Wednesday, December 10th, 6-8pm Grace Place 637 S. Dearborn St. Join us for an evening with community leaders to talk about Burke's harms and how we can fight back against Cook County prosecutors. Register here! bit.ly/SATeach-in

UPDATE: The community teach-in has been moved to December 10. Register now to hear Chicago Appleseed staff and other advocates and researchers talk about the Cook County State's Attorney's policies and their consequences! bit.ly/SATeach-in

UPDATE: The community teach-in has been moved to December! Come to the event to hear from our staff as well as other advocates and researchers about State's Attorney O'Neill Burke's policies and their consequences.

Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago - NEW: Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago Students' Reports on the Criminal System, Immigration, and Healthcare in Jails & Prisons — Available Now! This year's FJLOC cohort of 51 high school and undergraduate participants collaborated on these group research projects around criminal justice, health care in prisons and jails, and immigration…

Our 2025 Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago (FJLOC) students’ reports on the criminal system, immigration, and healthcare in jails and prisons are out now and available on our website.

Read the reports here: www.chicagoappleseed.org/2025/11/05/2...

Get to know our guest of honor, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, ahead of our event next week! Buy tickets now at chicagoappleseed.org/events

Community event! Who's your jailer? Date: Wednesday, November 12th, 6-8pm Location: Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn St. Join us for an evening with community leaders to talk about Burke's harms and how we can fight back against Cook County prosecutors. This event is hosted by the Cook County Coalition for Prosecutorial Accountability.

Join us at this community event to learn about our State's Attorney's policies and their consequences!

This is a great read in the New York Times (!!!) about the firearm #HarmReduction work put into practice by our partners at Stick Talk.

Check it out: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/u...

Check out 🔗bit.ly/evictedinthedark to learn about what our court-watchers saw when they observed hundreds of eviction hearings in Cook County.

The Results Are In: Forensic Labs Under Prosecutorial Control Are Problematic  - Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts The Cook County State’s Attorney is pushing for funding to establish an in-house forensics lab. Here are several reasons this is a bad idea.

At midyear budget hearings, State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke outlined key funding priorities in her office, including a push to establish an in-house forensics lab.

But the conflict of interest is clear...and we have concerns.

📌 Learn more: www.chicagoappleseed.org/2025/09/23/i...

Join us on Monday, November 10 to celebrate where we’ve been and where we’re going—and how we’re staying rooted in justice along the way. Featuring Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle & Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr.

🌱 Get your tickets at chicagoappleseed.org/events

Chicago Appleseed is #hiring a creative, organized, and passionate Communications Assistant to join our team on a part-time basis (10-16 hours/week), starting in November.

If you're interested or know someone who is, fill out the application at 🔗chicagoappleseed.org/apply.

NEW Court-Watching Report - Evicted in the Dark: Findings & Observations from Cook County Eviction Courts New court-watching report shows Cook County eviction courts are far from accessible for tenants, who are overwhelming Black and Latine people without legal representation.

“One of the biggest challenges was the rapid pace at which cases were called and resolved, often with little explanation for those unfamiliar with legal terminology or procedure.”

www.chicagoappleseed.org/2025/08/27/n...

via @chicagoappleseed.org

#housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism