#587 Online: Investigating the judiciary - public officials outside public records laws

The courts are society’s original open government institutions. With the exception of matters concerning children, nearly all court proceedings are public and so are all court records. And yet, paradoxically, investigating the courts in Illinois is one of the hardest things for journalists to do because the judicial branch of government is not subject to public records laws. Bulk data about court cases can be painstakingly collected through an idiosyncratic process which changes in speed and accuracy based on the whims of the particular officials in charge of it. But there is no data about judicial performance, no public records about the administration of the courts. Despite the fact that the Illinois courts administer many programs and agencies outside judicial proceedings (such as probation departments, children’s jails, many “diversion” programs) FOIA cannot be used to access information about them. This gives court officials tremendous leverage in controlling media narratives.

Maya Dukmasova will explain the basics about the structure of the Cook County judicial branch of government and the things under the courts’ jurisdiction. She will share how Injustice Watch investigates judges and court-administered bureaucracies for its journalism and its #CheckYourJudges judicial election guides.