Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts is a community-driven advocacy organization using mixed-methods research approaches to interrupt cycles of poverty, mass incarceration, and racial injustice inherent to the legal system.

Our areas of focus are court transparency, decarceration, economic accessibility, and community autonomy. We bridge the gap between the legal system, legislators, lawyers, and community members so that the public has the resources necessary to effectively access their rights and advocate for accountability, transparency, and equity in the courts.

We consider court issues with a systemic lens—recognizing the interconnected systems that create inequitable outcomes for certain communities. For decades, Chicago Appleseed has been the leading local organization systematically collaborating with grassroots organizations, academics, journalists, and court system actors to strategically support community-led solutions to systemic problems with empirical evidence.