Fix it, please
Wednesday, Oct 2, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is welcomed news. Tribune editorial board…
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, in a Sept. 26 letter, has called for Chief Judge Timothy Evans, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, Sheriff Tom Dart, Public Defender Abishi Cunningham and court administrator Michael Tardy to meet with the members of the state Supreme Court. The purpose: frank talk about the operations of the criminal courts.
Kilbride has also invited Eric Washington, chief judge of the Washington, D.C., Court of Appeals, who is well-versed in court management issues. Make no mistake, this is an extraordinary turn of events. The Illinois Supreme Court generally is quite reluctant to step into the operations of local courts.
It didn’t have much choice in this case, not after Preckwinkle pleaded for help in a Sept. 12 letter to Justice Lloyd Karmeier. She requested that a judge from outside Cook County be assigned to help process delayed criminal cases. She also asked the court to convene a commission to audit the system and to develop long-term solutions to the problem. […]
The sheriff’s office reports that more than 300 inmates have waited three years or more for their cases to conclude, 55 of them for five years or more. On the civil side, many people who rely on the courts to settle their cases — divorces, child custody, foster care — face a long, expensive haul from start to finish.
The entire system is a freaking mess. The circuit court clerk should also be involved, however, because her office is about as antiquated as they come. I can’t tell you how many horror stories I’ve heard about people getting caught up in the county judicial system.
* More…
This isn’t uncharted territory. Other counties and other states have improved efficiency by implementing electronic case filing, video conferencing of bond hearings and cameras in the courtrooms, which let the public see how the courts are working. The leaders of other court systems have forced lollygagging judges to step up and put in a full day’s work.
In New York City, court officials frustrated with the slow pace of justice in Bronx courtrooms put an outside judge in charge. In less than a year, Justice Patricia DiMango transformed the Bronx courts into a fair and efficient system, resolving hundreds of cases that had lingered for two years or more.
If an outside judge is what it takes, the powers that be should make it happen. ASAP.
* Speaking of Tribune editorials I like, here’s one about child abuse…
Three out of every four deaths linked to child abuse involve households that had no prior contact with the department. While DCFS gets its share of blame for child deaths that could have been prevented, the fact is most abuse is never brought to the department’s attention. According to a recent report, 70 percent of all child abuse in the U.S. goes unreported.
According to DCFS, children tell an average of seven adults they are being mistreated before it gets reported to authorities. Seven adults.
Ugh.
* More…
DCFS installed a new phone system last fall, after the Tribune reported that an unreliable, outdated hotline was preventing callers from getting through. The new system ensures a live person will answer promptly and start a quicker DCFS response. We tested it on a busy Friday afternoon and reached a dispatcher after waiting less than two minutes. Use it.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 10:34 am:
–The sheriff’s office reports that more than 300 inmates have waited three years or more for their cases to conclude, 55 of them for five years or more.–
That’s insane, a travesty. Whatever it takes, fix it.
- Frank - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 10:37 am:
Good for the Supreme Court for getting involved in the Cook County court mess. Believe it or not, no unit of government in Illinois is more dysfunctional that the Cook County court system. There is zero accountability because every judge has a job for life. It’s been more than two decades since a judge has lost a retention vote.
- Skeeter - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 10:40 am:
Non-lawyers simply cannot grasp the complete incompetence of Dorothy Brown’s office.
One example: Appeals are actually filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court (Brown’s office) and then a notice of that filing is filed in the Appellate Court (completely different clerk).
Brown’s office then needs to send the appeal two blocks from Daley Center to the Appellate Court (LaSalle/Randolph).
Under Supreme Court rules, after filing the notice of appeal, parties then have two weeks to file what is known as a “Docketing Statement” giving the appellate court some basic information.
However, despite that Supreme Court rule, the Appellate Court waives the time limit as a matter of routine.
The reason? Brown’s office rarely can get that notice from her office to the appellate court (again, maybe two blocks away) within two weeks.
In any decent system, it would be done daily. Brown can’t do it within two weeks.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 10:47 am:
DCFS is always in an unwinnable position. They are either criticized for taking kids out of a house or they are criticized for not doing enough for kids. And I’m glad somebody brought up the child death thing and the erroneous blame being placed on DCFS. You can’t fix a problem that you don’t know about. I frankly think that if a person is aware of abuse and doesn’t report it they should be guilty of some sort of crime. There are mandated reporters, but I think everybody should be mandated to report abuse.
- Hon. John Fritchey - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 10:47 am:
This is welcome, and overdue, news. But fixing the delays, while obviously important, is only part of the equation. We have a bail system that has lost sight of its intended purpose, resulting in staggering unnecessary costs as well as unwarranted incarceration of many individuals awaiting trial.
The overwhelming percentage of the individuals in Cook County Jail are there awaiting trial, innocent until proven guilty. Many of them have not been shown to pose any flight risk or risk to society but they remain there simply because they are too poor to post a cash bond but were denied an I-bond which would release them on their own recognizance.
NYC and DC grant almost 10 times the numbers of I-bonds as does Cook County, yet their appearance rates are on par with ours. We must revisit, and repair, our bond system in order to meaningfully reform our criminal court system.
- chase bail slips - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 11:06 am:
@ Fritchey
How do expect the private defense bar to make any money if you give out ibonds? And the vast majority of your plea deals that get resolved are done so the guy/gal can get out, if they’re not in, expect less pleas (agreeing to go in) and more delays.
- dupage dan - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 11:24 am:
So, maybe Clerk Brown can institute another one of her schemes for raising money. More blue jean fridays, perhaps?
What say Chief Judge Evans regarding the mess in Cook Cty? Will he welcome the help or be upset that it interferes with the ebb and flow?
- TCA - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 11:24 am:
This is a simple fix….not easy, but simple. STOP CONTINUING CASES. Attorneys are a procrastinating lot. Judges must simply stop continuing cases without just cause. Most attorneys, including States Attorneys and Assistants know it is easy to obtain a continuance . It only clogs up the court system. A number of studies have been done by the National Center for State Courts and the conclusion/remedy is STOP CONTINUING CASES. Hold the attorneys accountable.
- Metro Easterly - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 11:36 am:
Judges who have no work ethic, and Chief Judges who need the votes to remain so perpetuate a system whereby defendants plead not guilty before the bar to a lesser felony and ask for a jury trial by constitutional right. The defendant gets an offer.. his attorney refuses the offer knowing when the jail approaches capacity that justice goes on sale. When that happens, the defendant pleads guilty to a reduced charge, in this case a misdemeanor, and is credited with time served, usually in conjunction with probation. These judges will only try serious felony cases. Much money is contributed with the trade-off being the adjudication of cases on the asbestos docket and class actions at the expensie of public safety.
- Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 11:39 am:
Agree with what Skeeter said above. Two more examples. The Circuit Court of Cook County is probably the world’s one remaining purchaser of mass quantities of carbon paper. Yep, they still use carbon paper to make copies of orders. Federal court clerks prepare their judges’ orders electronically and e-mail them. In Cook County, one of the lawyers prepares multiple copies using carbon paper, passes it around to other lawyers on the case to approve the wording, then hands it to the clerk for the judge’s approval. So antiquated.
Also, some case dockets are searchable online, some are not. I have a case up for a hearing tomorrow. Went to confirm the time online, but couldn’t, because the case had been transferred to a divison which did not have online access from one that did.
Small examples, but while we may expect the public sector to be always behind the times on technology, the Cook County court system is stuck in the dark ages.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 11:42 am:
the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association should be brought in also. Defense attorneys ask for most of the continuances. It’s not just a Public Defender problem. Faster trials benefit all. the CBA and ISBA should put their members on notice.
Even without modern applications of computers and video conferencing, or doing anything at all to Dorothy Brown’s in need of change shop, just moving along the trials is a lawyering problem that can be solved with more action. First thing we do, talk to the lawyers and make them do their jobs faster.
- Joan P. - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 12:03 pm:
“video conferencing of bond hearings ”
I’ve seen video bond hearings in other counties and they are an absolute travesty. A lawyer cannot be both in the courtroom and with her client. Communication between attorney and client is made difficult, if not impossible. I’ve seen judges hit the button and cut an inmate off mid-sentence; decline to give information on future court dates (”the jail will tell you”); fail to ask relevant questions about work, family ties, etc., instead just setting bond at whatever the prosecution asks for; fail to inquire if the inmate wants counsel appointed.
It’s all about speeding through the call and making life easier for the Sheriff’s Office. When you don’t see someone face-to-face, it’s easy not to see him as a fellow human being. Which is why a study done a few years ago showed a 65% INCREASE in the average bail amount after Cook County instituted video bond hearings, and why Cook County scrapped the system.
- Dave Clarkin - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 1:27 pm:
Thanks for the “Ugh” Rich. It is hard to imagine that children have to tell an average of seven adults that they are being mistreated before it is reported to DCFS, but that is the sad reality.
DCFS will continue reminding all 9 million adults in Illinois that we have a shared responsibility to keep kids safe, but we’re also reaching out directly to school children across Illinois to encourage them to contact the hotline themselves if they or another child they know needs help.
CapFax readers can find that poster here.
The feedback for the “You are Not Alone” campaign from school leaders has been extremely positive, but we’d love to hear what your readers think as well.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 1:35 pm:
“First thing we do, talk to the lawyers and make them do their jobs faster.” BTW, these are the same employees who have been forced to furlough and are threatened with loss of pensions. There is no magic bullet. As the abysmal rate of wrongful convictions shows, too many corners are being cut now. Either forego prosecuting cases or pony up the money for sufficient personnel and equipment.
- anon - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 1:57 pm:
Cook County Public Defenders have the highest average caseloads in the country. The delay is not the “cause.” The delay is the symptom of a grossly underfunded system as it becomes the only way to handle way too many cases.
- gonzalley - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 2:11 pm:
On the delay issue, the high bonds set are not to insure appearance, but to keep defendants, mostly poor, in custody. The judges (most are former prosecutors)know that it’s easier to encourage a guilty plea from someone who’s locked up.
- orzo - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 2:16 pm:
Metro Easterly’s description might be true in Metro East, but not in Cook County. The current State’s Attorney discourages any charge reduction, and almost never to a misdemeanor. That means more cases go to trial than necessary, which slows down the system.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 2:17 pm:
Hon. Fritchey,
Isn’t the reason we have so few I-bonds is that none of the elected officials (the judges, the sheriff) want to be blamed if a person out on bond does another crime? I.e., they’re all covering their butts?
- anon - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 2:30 pm:
Cook County has one of the highest plea bargain rates in the country already. Far lower than New York where a much higher percentage of cases go to jury trial.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 3:38 pm:
Cook County Criminal Courtrooms have the highest volume of cases per court in the country. not just for public defenders. Every case that comes into a courtroom is staffed by three prosecutors, tracking the paperwork, even if the rare occasion of another prosecutor coming in happens. Public Defenders are not responsible for trying every case. there are private lawyers, from Jenner and Block associates given trial experience, to the guys and gals who you see on the big federal cases. it is a daunting task for the first Chair assistant states attorney to see that every case is tracked for time so that a term is not blown. this is how we know who asks for a continuance. go to trial faster, PDs.
- dupage dan - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 3:40 pm:
Just Me,
You’re kidding, right? If so, you might consider letting us know - (snark) is one way to do it.
If you are serious, you need some help.
- anon - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 4:39 pm:
“go to trial faster, PDs.” Yeah, stomping your foot and say “go faster” is a real solution. Stop the finger wagging and blame game and put more resources into the system to alleviate caseloads (for PDs and the State’s Attorney) and modernize record keeping. And tell that Preckwinkle not to run around complaining about everyone else when she rolled back the sales tax which could have funded many of these necessary changes.
- James - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 4:43 pm:
Toni Preckwinkle deserves much credit for taking the time to write the letter to the Supreme Court.
- West Side the Best Side - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 4:54 pm:
Just wondering why Ms. Preckwinkle sent a letter to Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier, who is neither the current Chief Justice (Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride), nor the next Chief Justice (Justice Rita Garman), who will succeed Chief Justice Kilbride later this month. You would think that if you did not want to write to a justice from Cook County, the chief justice would, in a chain-of-command situation, be the one to write to. Maybe its because Ms. Preckwinkle just doesn’t know as much about the courts and justice system as she thinks she does when she starts pontificating.
- walkinfool - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 5:50 pm:
Toni keeps pushing for the right things, that others have let slide for years.
A couple of agreements with others: Reform the bail/bond practices, and judges: absolutely refuse any request for continuances by either side, without a truly compelling legal argument.
- West Side the Best Side - Wednesday, Oct 2, 13 @ 7:37 pm:
Wow, is my commentating face red. I actually relied on a Trib editorial to comment on Ms. Preckwinkle sending a letter to Justice Karmeier of the Illinois Supreme Court. She did, in fact end it to Chief Justice Kilbride. The Trib - what a shock!- got it wrong. I do stand by my opinion as to her understanding of the criminal justice system as a whole. I’m entitled to my opinion, I’m just not entitled to rely on the Trib’s “facts.”