Advocacy Team
Submit Disability Candidate Questions by 2-18-20
Dear Access Living friends and allies,
On March 5th Access Living will once again be the site of a Disability Candidates Forum! This Forum will focus on two races: the Cook County State’s Attorney, and the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court.
As we have done before, Access Living is asking the public to submit question suggestions for this Forum. Suggestions are due at NOON on Tuesday February 18. Submit a question at this link.
Disability Candidates Forum Details
The event page is at this link. There are two important buttons at this page.
…One is to RSVP (please do so).
…The other is to submit forum questions for the candidates; your question suggestions are due no later than NOON on February 18, so get going! The submitted questions will be reviewed by the Access Living team, which will select the final questions to ask on the day of the Forum. Candidates will have a chance to prep for the questions in advance.
The event page will be updated with information about the candidates as attendance is confirmed, as well as the information needed to access the Forum livestream and CART. Check back as we get closer to March 5, 2020.
Time: 1 pm-2:30 pm Central Time
Location: Access Living’s fourth floor, 115 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago. The event will also be streamed live on the web, and there will be ASL and CART access.
Social media hashtags: #RevUp, #VoteDisability, #CripTheVote
The event is FREE and open to the public. Seating is first come first served. Check in will begin at 12:30.
Why the Cook County State’s Attorney and Clerk of the Circuit Court Races? As a nonprofit disability rights and services organization, we watch elections for offices that may have significant impact on the lives of people with disabilities. This is particularly true of course for both the State’s Attorney’s office and for the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court. The lives of the half-million people with disabilities who live in Cook County are deeply tied to our courts and legal offices and systems. Our goal is not only to challenge candidates to discuss how they plan to engage and serve people with disabilities, but also to more broadly educate folks about why these offices have impact on the lives of people with disabilities. Given the rise of disability voter engagement over the last five years, this is a unique opportunity to connect several critical issues voters care about, like race, criminal justice reform, and of course, disability.
What does the Cook County State’s Attorney do? With more than 700 attorneys and more than 1,100 employees, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is the second largest prosecutor’s office in the nation. The State’s Attorney oversees a wide range of divisions involving civil and criminal matters, as well as victim support, child enforcement support, domestic violence services, and immigration services.
What does the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court do? The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 24 circuits in Illinois as well as one of the largest unified court systems in the United States – second only in size to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. More than 2.4 million cases are filed each year (per Wikipedia) and the Clerk is responsible for managing the court’s documents and other matters. It is also an office that engages with a large number of people who represent themselves, in addition of course to engaging with lawyers.
Please share this widely with those you know who reside in Cook County, Illinois.