The Illinois Supreme Court voted to uphold the conviction of a man on an unlawful possession of a weapon charge, a misdemeanor that carried a 30-day jail term, even though state prosecutors pursued the case without independently verifying that the defendant violated state law. While all seven justices voted to
A group of mothers who say their sons have been kidnapped by the Illinois Department of Corrections are asking outgoing Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to use a UN report as a catalyst to release from prison more people who say that police tortured them into confessing
High court justices reverse lower court sanction on prosecutor for allowing misleading testimony in grand jury hearing After two lower courts dismissed his case with prejudice, the Illinois Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision voted to continue prosecuting a man who says the State manipulated a grand jury to secure
Two decades ago, the Crawfords lost a member of their family to the carceral system. On a February night in 2004, Oliver Crawford Jr. was in Streamwood, Illinois spending the night at the home of his cousin Shirley, according to court documents. Later that morning he would get ready to
After more than two decades behind bars, Kevin Jackson is going home. "Having now had the opportunity to review the briefs and hold oral argument in this case we are now of the opinion that Mr. Jackson meets the criteria for release," the panel wrote in an expedited
"Free them all. Free them now!" That was the cry heard in front of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office Sept. 30 at a rally to ask outgoing top prosecutor Kim Foxx to "leave the office with a bang" by vacating the
In 2012 then CBS News 60 Minutes correspondent Byron Pitts came to Chicago to explore the peculiar distinction of Chicago as the capital of false confessions. In that report he interviewed seven men, known now as the Englewood Four and the Dixmoor Five who as teens were convicted of rape
All persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts and policies of those who represent them as public officials. So reads the first line of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, making it among the most progressive laws in the country
After a circuit court judge vacated the conviction of man who has spent the last 11 years behind bars based upon advice that the state's attorney's office would dismiss the case, the Fraternal Order of Police said that it would push for him to be reindicted
Training a solutions journalism lens on wrongful convictions in Illinois Today I pressed the publish button on the first edition of the Cook County Courtroom Observer, a newsletter that aims to train a solutions journalism lens on the problem of wrongful convictions in Illinois. It’s a project that I’
Supporters for Kevin Jackson quietly left the courtroom after listening to a three-judge appellate panel question oral arguments Tuesday over whether or not to free Kevin Jackson, who has spent more than half of his life in prison for a crime he and one of the victims says he didn&
In a call to action outgoing Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx says the county needs to develop better models for not only reviewing wrongful conviction cases but also preventing them from happening in the first place. "We need to prevent wrongful convictions," Foxx said to