Join the Better Government Association for a night of celebration at the 2023 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Investigative Reporting! The awards highlight the impact of Illinois investigative and enterprise reporting as a reform tool within the context of state and local government waste, fraud, and corruption. The evening will be a celebration of […]
Chicago’s new City Council will take office on May 15th. But how does it all really work, inside the council chambers? Join the Better Government Association’s policy team for an in-depth seminar on the history, rules, and workings of Chicago City Council. Free and open to the public, this seminar will be especially beneficial to […]
In Cook County, thousands of people are arrested every year for possessing small amounts of drugs only to have their cases thrown out just days later. It’s due to an unwritten rule in the courts that costs millions of dollars in taxes and costs those getting arrested their jobs, their homes and their freedom.
A new investigation, “Dead-End Drug Arrests,” examines this pattern in Cook County. The Better Government Association and the Chicago Sun-Times found those charged with carrying less than one gram of drugs are still routinely arrested although their charges are overwhelmingly dismissed in the earliest stages of their court cases.
