Days after the body of a 1-year-old Joliet Township girl was found under a couch in a house infested with bedbugs and with roaches climbing the walls, a Will County judge demanded to know what child welfare workers had done to help the family. During a hearing Tuesday to determine where to place the deceased girl's three older brothers, Judge Paula Gomora said that in previous visits to the … [Read more...]

FAIRFIELD — A somber crowd of as many as 30 mothers gathered in protest Wednesday  in front of the Solano courthouse. The mothers, many of them affiliated with four area advocacy groups, want to see a change in how Solano County’s four family law judges treat some mothers in contentious child custody disputes. Several of the mothers say the judges have deprived them of time with their … [Read more...]

Extremist attacks don’t pose a daily threat to American women. But their partners do. When news of an active shooter inside an elementary school broke on Monday morning, it triggered panic and alarm. For residents of San Bernardino, California, a community still reeling from the trauma of a terrorist attack that killed 14 people less than two years ago, it was as though a fresh wound … [Read more...]

In Larimer County, prosecutors find themselves staring down some 3,000 felony charges in a given year, and they effectively have four courtrooms in which to try those cases. Some of these cases involve the alleged abuse of children, which, due to their complex nature, can take weeks to resolve in a jury trial and frequently involve allegations of additional crimes such as domestic … [Read more...]

Lawmakers have delayed the reappointment of California’s longtime chief watchdog, State Auditor Elaine Howle, amid a review prompted by an anonymous letter that raised sharp questions about her management of the department. The letter went to key lawmakers last August just before a legislative committee was expected to consider her reappointment to a fifth term for a post she has held since … [Read more...]