Links of Interest
What We Read, January 9-13, 2012
Elections:
Criminal Justice and Criminal Court Reform:
- Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has called for a study of the bail bond system in Cook County
Immigration Court Reform:
- Immigration Impact discusses clarifications to the ICE detainer reporting form, noting that Cook County is among municipalities limiting their compliance with detainers because of problems with the program. Meanwhile, the Chicago Daily Herald reports on a Cook County Commissioner, who wants more reporting to ICE in Cook County. As noted in the link above, Cook County Board President Preckwinkle defends the position taken by the Board last fall, despite criticism, believing that release of county inmates is an issue for the judicial system, not the immigration system.
Other Links of Interest:
- The Chronicle of Philanthropy explains how to make numbers and data fun and compelling.
- WBEZ reports on gaps in disclosure rules and practices in Illinois which leave room for lobbyists to operate without public notice.
Links of Interest for the Week — May 20, 2011
Immigration Court Reform:
- Human Rights Watch presented testimony to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary about reducing the immigration court backlog through decreasing transfers and providing counsel.
Criminal Justice Reform: Chicago Appleseed does not work in the area of prison reform but several articles discussing prisons, prison populations, and the costs of incarceration caught our eye this week.
- Michelle Alexander, an associate professor of law at Ohio State University, had an editorial titled “In Prison Reform, Money Trumps Civil Rights” in the New York Timesthis week.
- A longer article in Wednesday’s New York Times questioning conventional wisdom that privately-operated prisons can cost less to operate than state-run prisons.
- Equal Justice Works is commemorating Mental Health Awareness Month with a series of blog posts on the courts, prisons, and persons with mental health issues.
Community Justice:
- The Chicago News Co-Op has put up a nice interactive guide to Chicago’s aldermen as we all get accustomed to having a new mayor.
- Social IMPACT Research Center, a program of Heartland Alliance has released a report examining publicly-funded human services and highlighting the social and economic value for society when investments are made into human services, briefly touching on the benefits of community schools.
- Illinois’ Senate Democrats released their proposed redistricting map, drawn during a closed-door session. You can view the proposed map using Google Earth By following the instructions at this link.
An Introduction to Illinois Redistricting
The 2010 Census results are in, and the big news is that Illinois has grown a mere 3% in the last decade, while Chicago has shrunk by nearly 7%, or 200,000 people. The data indicates that black and Hispanic Chicagoans are migrating from the city to the suburbs, taking up residence in Chicago’s so-called collar counties. As a result of these shifts, Illinois lost one US Congressional seat, and Chicago stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
The shifts also foretell changes to various voter districts, as part of the mysterious decennial process called legislative “redistricting.” Redistricting is the mapping of Legislative Districts across the state. Each Legislative District is represented in the General Assembly by one state senator, and two state representatives. Article IV of the Illinois Constitution mandates that Legislative Districts be distributed “substantially equally” throughout the state. Thus, regions of the state that have gained residents may be divided into multiple districts, while those with declining population will see a consolidation of districts.
Redistricting can dramatically affect the voting power of demographic groups. For example, if a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood comprises the majority of voters in one district, then that group will be more successful if it wishes to vote as a bloc. On the other hand, if that same neighborhood is split into two districts, then the Hispanic population may not hold a majority vote in either district. There is a long political history in the United States of “gerrymandering,” or strategic redistricting to weaken minority voting power.
The Illinois General Assembly is at the helm of redistricting, a secretive process subject to little oversight or community input. Unethical redistricting is a real possibility. Chicago Appleseed has joined Draw the Line Illinois, a coalition of organizations intent on introducing transparency and fairness to the once-in-a-decade process of defining legislative districts. Check back here for more information as the Illinois General Assembly redraws the voter map.
