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By Hannah Meisel
* The Chicago Reader has a long piece on the dysfunction within Cook County Court Clerk Dorothy Brown’s office, whose antiquated work processes have apparently made it difficult for those fighting to overturn convictions — including wrongful convictions — to get their day in court. It’s entitled “Hundreds of Illinois prisoners languish behind bars waiting for Dorothy Brown to do her job“…
This could be the story of two wrongful convictions. This could be the story of how James Allen was railroaded by a Chicago police detective and Cook County prosecutors who didn’t think he deserved to be free. But before he has the chance to prove that he’s innocent of two murders, Allen needs one thing: for Dorothy Brown, the clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, to do her job. […]
Allen is far from the only defendant whose postconviction proceedings have been stalled because Brown, the guardian of more than a million boxes of Cook County criminal and civil case records, has delayed in finding or failed to supply requested files. Currently some 25 other defendants represented by the appellate defender’s office are in the same situation, and some delays have dragged on for more than a year. (No data is available for the number of defendants stymied by this issue who have private attorneys.)
Brown’s failure to provide warehoused records in a timely manner has been an ongoing problem for years. In 2013, after being publicly chastised by the appellate defender’s office, Brown promised sweeping reforms in her management practices. She also touted major improvements in record storage and retrieval in 2014, when the county opened a $24 million, state-of-the-art warehouse in Cicero, largely for her office’s use. However, as Allen’s case indicates, timely record retrieval continues to be a challenge for the clerk of the circuit court. Since the passage of a new law in 2017 that requires Brown to provide records for appeals electronically, there’ve also been significant delays in scanning and transmitting warehoused files. Allen’s attorneys haven’t been able to get digital records to proceed with his appeal of a rejected postconviction motion in the Gibson case for more than a year. The appellate defender’s office says more than 600 of its cases are currently held up for the same reason.
“This is not normal,” says Patricia Mysza, head of the state appellate defender’s Cook County office. “Our clients have a constitutional right to an appeal. . . . It’s the clerk’s obligation to prepare the complete record on appeal. And without that record our clients are not getting their constitutional right.”
Definitely go read the whole thing. At my old job, I wrote plenty about a legal fight attempting to force Brown to make e-filed complaints available to media immediately. But these stakes are far higher. Also a good read: Tribune’s story on Brown’s office from February.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 2:39 pm
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This might be the best reason to vote for Brown for Mayor: to get her the (deleted) away from important court records.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 2:42 pm
That office is a total disgrace and has been before and during her undeservedly long tenure. Between this and her continued Feds trouble, it’s mind boggling that she thinks she should be Mayor or anything else. Total incompetence. This particular issue is begging for a federal civil rights lawsuit and court oversight of her operations.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 2:47 pm
Brown’s run for mayor is only to raise funds for her upcoming legal fight with the Feds. Is it possible for the State to step in and force the Clerk’s Office digitize everything?
Comment by Yup! Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 2:54 pm
She has been terrible at her job since the start.
At the Illinois Appellate Court, it is sort of a joke. Those of us who practice there routinely have to ask for extensions of time not because of our schedules, but because her office takes forever to get records there.
And we don’t get us started on carbon paper.
Comment by Gooner Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 4:15 pm
Dorothy Brown’s incompetence is doubly damning when one considers geography.
In Downstate Illinois, the Appellate Court is oftentimes many miles distant. In Cook County, the Appellate Court, which formerly was located on the 30th floor of the Daley Center, is now one block away in the Bilandic Building (the Old State of Illinois Building that was supposed to be replaced by the Thompson Center until it was found that the newer building had insufficient space for state offices).
Older cases are warehoused in Pilsen, but the inability to move files in a timely manner is risible.
Comment by Practical Politics Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 4:28 pm
She is the single worst public official in Illinois.
Scribble- Sure your comment will be deleted in a bit, but you are in the running for worst human being on this blig.
Comment by The Way I See It Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 4:46 pm
Worst Public servant?
Nope but close.
Worst public Servant would be Rham.
Comment by Back to the Future Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 5:42 pm
Taking with a grain of salt Mr. Allen’s Robin Hood story that the proceeds of the armed payroll heist which began his involvement with the criminal justice system were going mostly to the poor, what is happening with post conviction files is still a total disgrace. As far as the Cicero warehouse, the Clerk’s Office is beyond incompetent. This also relates to its ability to find files dealing with People v. Angular cases - where the Illinois Supreme Court found the gun law unconstitutional - for people who are trying to get their convictions vacated because the law was void ab initio. Without the file, the courts can’t rule on those petitions either. Interestingly, the Cicero warehouse is under the Clerk’s Facilities Management Bureau, whose head guy is Fred Moody, of the Madigan Moody Brothers.
Comment by West Side the Best Side Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 6:06 pm
Would Dorothy Brown be considered a fiscal conservative or a progressive? Politically speaking.
Comment by BlueDogDem Thursday, May 24, 18 @ 11:10 pm