Judge Carol Howard grew up on Chicago's West Side into a family of six children and became the first lawyer in her family's history. In a survey about her work, Howard credits the listening skills she learned from her parents as an asset she employs every
An appellate court panel on Friday reversed a circuit court judge’s ruling to uphold the 21-year-old criminal convictions of Kevin Jackson.
After 39 hours of interrogation, Clayborn Smith in 1992 signed a statement confessing to the murders of his grandfather and great aunt. At the trial two years later, he filed a motion to suppress his confession. But the presiding judge didn't believe Smith's allegations that police
Throughout his legal career, George N. Leighton fought for justice. Does the courthouse named in his honor reflect his legacy?
Moms of adult children often lament that their sons and daughters don't call home frequently enough. But that's not the issue for Denise Spencer, who says there have been times when her son has called her as many as ten times a day. Spencer's
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
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
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