It's time to CHECK YOUR JUDGES BAYYYYBEEEEE!!!! Unbelievably excited to share our team's labor of love for the 2026 primary election. There are some doozies in here. Don't vote without it! #checkyourjudges 2026primary.injusticewatch.org

Georgia Fort's is chilling, and it's being overshadowed by the equally chilling arrest of Don Lemon. A GoFundMe is being set up for Fort. In the meantime, you can support her work directly – without paying massive fundraising platform fees – through her website: www.georgiafort.com/support

📻 Tune in to WCPT 820 AM today at 4 p.m. CT to hear Investigative Project on Race and Equity reporter Emeline Posner discuss their recent reporting for "Taken by Taxes," our joint project on property tax foreclosure in Cook County. buff.ly/KUDMpSt

We're taking applications for this position for another couple of weeks! I really can't say enough good things about working at IW, we have incredible benefits and fantastic pay and a really positive and healthy workplace culture. Apply and spread the word!

Looking forward to this conversation with @aliceyin.bsky.social and @ctoner.bsky.social and people interested in Chicago journalism on Friday night!

Very amusing to watch dads losing their shit at a trampoline park when their kids say 6 7. Why are you feeling so threatened by children's culture my man

I've been to two book stores and three grocery stores in Syracuse NY today and cannot find an issue of the New Yorker anywhere 🥴

“Gantchev suffered from type 2 diabetes and told his wife no diet accommodations were made for him. She and Anna said the small amount of food that is given to people detained at North Lake was not enough for maintaining Gantchev's blood sugar levels.”

Psst...we're hiring an editor in chief! www.injusticewatch.org/about/editor...

“This is the saddest part about being an immigrant — that one strives to do the best job you can … and then we don’t get paid,” the worker said in between sobs. Gut-wrenching new investigation from @writeralejandra.bsky.social Wage theft in Illinois is rampant www.injusticewatch.org/project/wait...

👇👇At 7500 S Shore, tenants still traumatized by the military-style raid on their building are being forced out. Maya's points here are critical, and the problem is likely to get worse given rising financial distress, as discussed here by @cplusc.bsky.social climateandcommunity.org/research/fin...

Just a reminder that we're still accepting any and all tips regarding the people running for judge in Cook County in the March primary! Take a look at the names here and share anything you'd like us to know. Responses are confidential! airtable.com/appG8uZvhvgY...

The situation at 7500 s South Shore, the building raided by ICE, is really an illustration of our broken building code enforcement system that @writeralejandra.bsky.social and I extensively documented in The Tenant Trap: www.injusticewatch.org/project/tena... Here's why:

ICYM the Cook County court Friday night news dump: at the end of his first week in office Chief Judge Beach axed three presiding judges:

I'm not exaggerating when I say following @boltsmag.org rn will unlock money for our journalism. A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count. If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!

@injusticewatch.org is out with an encyclopedic take by @mdoukmas.bsky.social on Timothy Evans, low-key one of the most consequential Chicagoans of the last 50 years.

Senior reporter Maya Dukmasova spent months interviewing dozens of people to learn what Timothy Evans, Cook County’s outgoing chief judge, will be remembered for. (with @chicagomag.com) buff.ly/I8R6R5I

It's #GivingNewsDay and it's the perfect day to send some of your coins to @injusticewatch.org! Support our trailblazing journalism about your local courts, we are the only news org in Chicago dedicated to investigative reporting about the judicial branch of government! www.injusticewatch.org/donate

This story by @mdoukmas.bsky.social is not only a deeply reported, behind-the-scenes look at the man who’s steered Cook County’s courts for the last quarter century — it’s also a master class in profile writing. Make time to read it!

To learn more about the court he’s inheriting and the man who’s shaped it for the past quarter-century, check out @mdoukmas.bsky.social’s latest: www.injusticewatch.org/judges/court...

This one goes out to my friend and former colleague Ben Joravsky, who taught me most of what I know about Chicago politics. And to all the @injusticewatch.org fans who read us to understand our courts. I've been waiting to write this story for almost a decade! www.injusticewatch.org/judges/court...

Got a real treat dropping for all you Chicago politics nerds tomorrow

I hate the term "hallucinate" vis a vis false AI outputs. It's another way we're being primed to view it as a mind way before it's proven to be anything but a product. Human hallucinations are not "real" but they're not false in the way that wrong facts are. Anyone read anything good on this theme?

chat are we cooked

The Christkindlmarkt thing is so funny top to bottom. America so starved for vibrant public spaces and events that this winter craft fair gets Disneyland-level regional demand, and this is seen as a problem to be solved with cops and security

Hey instead of buying more plastic how about spending your hard earned cash on supporting local journalism?! @injusticewatch.org is celebrating our 10th birthday next week and we're throwing a bday party every 10 year old can only dream of: bowling, magic, prizes, and grownup drinks. Come out!

Really need Chicago legal community to come through with TIPS and info about these people running for judge!! The survey is confidential!

"I had not touched a cat in 15 years when an orange kitten wandered over to sit with me in the grass one day. I was left without adequate words to describe that experience. It reminded me that I am alive."

ICYMI in the runup to this news: @kellygarcia.bsky.social -reported evidence Dixon may not be living in Cook co -reported on trial and acquittal of a guard by a judge with a long history of reversals and law enforcement background -published video that shows what the guard did to a child at JTDC

Now's a good time for Illinois residents to take advantage of a unique right we have to be removed from Clearview's database. Scroll down to IL opt-out here: www.clearview.ai/privacy-and-...

“I don’t even think it’s close,” said Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Wadas during the 2.5 hour long criminal trial of a former youth jail employee accused of throwing a 15-year-old handcuffed boy to the ground, leaving him unconscious. www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

Can't wait to read more about what happened. I can't say I'm surprised though, Wadas has a reputation as a very pro law enforcement judge. Former marine who ran the narcotics unit when Richie Daley was the SAO in the 80s. In 2020 IW found him among the most reversed on appeal at 26th street.

Update: Due to a scheduling issue, trial was postponed to tomorrow at 10 am. Keep checking back for updates. @injusticewatch.org

Given all you hear about child abuse at the Cook County juvenile detention center it's shocking that we're seeing the first criminal trial of a guard for allegedly assaulting a kid in over a decade. Great reporting from my colleague @kellygarcia.bsky.social www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

Great and necessary reporting from @rebeccaburns.bsky.social about the landlord and property manager of the South Shore building that got raided inthesetimes.com/article/evic...

Federal agents arrested 11 rideshare drivers at O'Hare Saturday, the second time agents have targeted workers who are the "backbone" of the city's transportation network, an advocacy group said. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/19/b...

Some perspective on how much we've all acquiesced to gerontocracy: in 1978 (when there was mandatory judicial retirement at 75 in IL) the first chief judge of cook county, a big Dem machine boss, lost his retention election. His age (77) was considered "the key factor in voter rejection"

It's a great day to take our short survey and be entered to win $100 and a custom portrait by our artist Verónica Martinez!

Happy Indigenous People's Day from an Italian heritage street festival in Chicago's Viagra triangle where, yes, Bob Fioretti, dressed in a "Dignitary" sash, is collecting signatures for yet another run for elected office

If you love @injusticewatch.org please take a few minutes to complete this survey! It'll help us shape our work and make sure we're bringing you what you need. There's a chance to win $100 + a custom portrait by our artist Verónica Martinez every week for the next month!

CPD rehired Forberg as a criminal intelligence research specialist after he retired as a detective. His sometimes-partner, John Foster, remains a commander of detectives. Supt. Larry Snelling declined to discuss those facts. Forberg also quit a small suburban department after I asked about the job.

My colleague @danhinkel.bsky.social found that not a single person has been exonerated with the help of the "conviction integrity unit" under the new Cook County State's Attorney

Senior reporter Maya Dukmasova's recent investigation of a UIC crime lab involved submitting more than 45 FOIA request, reviewing more than 8k pages of documents, and interviewing more than 50 people. If you've got questions or want to learn more about her process, join us on Reddit! buff.ly/BnaI0DC

New this morning: a Cook County judge with a history of alleged inappropriate physical conduct with colleagues has been reassigned after a clerk accused her of battery www.injusticewatch.org/judges/judic...

Charles Beach, 55, was elected Cook County chief judge this evening, defeating 24-year incumbent Timothy Evans. He’ll take over control over a vast court bureaucracy as well as judicial assignments when his term starts Dec. 1. Story by @mdoukmas.bsky.social. www.injusticewatch.org/judges/court...

This will have strong political implications for the Cook County juvenile detention center, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Chief Judge. The current superintendent was appointed by Evans in 2015 and, to the bewilderment of many, kept around despite persistent concerns about his leadership.

BEAKING NEWS: COOK COUNTY HAS A NEW CHIEF JUDGE - Charles Beach

I'm on the 17th floor of the Daley Center where Cook County's circuit judges are gathering for the secret conclave style election of their Chief Judge. As one irate litigant just commented, coming out hot from a nearby hearing: "It's a goofy ass fucking place!" Follow along for updates!

The next JTDC Advisory Board is on Oct. 7, same time and place. Thanks for following along. Please stay tuned to the secret election for Chief Judge happening in just a few... here's a great piece on what to expect from my colleague @mdoukmas.bsky.social www.injusticewatch.org/judges/court...

Congratulations to @mdoukmas.bsky.social of @injusticewatch.org on winning the September Sidney for her innovative and engaging exposé of forensic junk science in Chicago: