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Eye On Illinois: Justice system tweaks benefiting abuse victims shouldn’t go unnoticed

Not all progress can be measured in physical infrastructure and broad social policy.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans issued a release Monday detailing how his jurisdiction might become just the fifth nationwide to give domestic violence victims around-the-clock access to the court system.

“Based on conversations with domestic violence advocates, we know that some victims arriving after hours have encountered difficulty filing an emergency petition, thus depriving them of an opportunity to have their cases heard, and potentially putting themselves and their families at risk,” Evans said. “Therefore, this court will find a way for petitioners to have their cases heard at any time, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. In the interests of justice, the court must ensure that this is done in a way that is both accessible and fair to all sides in a dispute.”

The release explained Domestic Violence Court accessibility adjustments during the ongoing pandemic, which included online proceedings and filings. Already someone who files before 3 p.m. on a weekday will have their matter assigned to a judge for a same-day hearing. Even those who file later can get a video hearing before 5 p.m. because all the county’s courthouses have “Zoom Rooms,” providing access to people without phone or internet access.

But because domestic violence doesn’t exactly follow a 9-to-5 schedule – quite the opposite, actually – these steps can be powerful tools in expanding the justice system and might establish a blueprint for the rest of Illinois to follow.

Cook County will rely on those already wading into this water: Arizona’s Maricopa County, Florida’s Miami-Dade County and, in Texas, Harris (Houston) and Dallas counties. It also can look inward because the county already conducts certain proceedings on a 24-hour basis, such as determining probable cause in criminal cases.

This won’t be a unilateral imposition. Evans said contributions are expected from the circuit court clerk, sheriff, state’s attorney and public defender’s officers as well as private lawyers and victim advocacy groups. Their counterparts in other counties surely will be watching to see what might be scalable. Obviously there are expenses involved, nominally in terms of technology but most certainly in staffing and some physical resources.

In somewhat related territory, last week Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 734, which makes no-contact orders permanent when there is a conviction for a sexual assault crime. This ends the practice of making a victim revisit trauma by making a joint court appearance to renew the order every other year, tracking with a policy already in place for stalking victims.

Such reforms may go unnoticed by those whose lives aren’t touched by these agonizing events, but they go a long way toward healthier, safer communities.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.

Scott Holland

Scott T. Holland

Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media Illinois. Follow him on Twitter at @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.