Court Watch Reports

Our efforts to combat domestic violence do not stop with GPS Monitoring. We realize that there are several components that need to be implemented to seek progress and to aide victims of domestic violence. One area includes the need for changes to the way in which the court system is protecting victims from abuse. See the article below, as it describes how Cook County has decided to put together a specially appointed panel to examine whether Cook County’s Domestic Violence Court is adequately protecting victims from abuse.

Download the report, Working Together to End Violence Against Women: Court Watch Report 2009-2010 presented by the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network (funded through a $10,000 contribution by the CLB Foundation)

Focus on domestic violence protection
A specially appointed panel will examine whether Cook County’s Domestic Violence Court is adequately protecting victims from abuse, the county’s chief judge, Timothy C. Evans, said Thursday.

Evans’ decision to order the inquiry follows two high-profile killings this spring involving women who sought protection from the court.

Evans said he has been considering a full review of the court’s operations since the $62 million courthouse at 555 W. Harrison St. opened in 2005, but said the recent slayings gave the issue renewed urgency. Read more. (download PDF)

Caring eyes focus on domestic violence court
They do their work in silence. They sit, watch, listen and write. When they speak up, their voices carry.

They are court-watchers, volunteers who observe domestic violence proceedings in hopes that their presence and their conclusions improve the way courts handle these sensitive cases. Read more. (download PDF)

Stalker laws: 2 new bills make stalking easier to charge in Illinois
2 new bills in Springfield would make it easier for victims to make a case

Ken Kopecky’s fatal obsession with Karen Erjavec, a young marketing assistant and aerobics instructor, reportedly started after they were in a wedding together. He began stalking her and sending threatening messages to her boyfriend, Glenn Beach. Read more. (download PDF)