Injustice Watch is a left-of-center media outlet focused on the judicial system in Cook County, Illinois. It has received substantial funding from the left-of-center Tawani Foundation ¹ and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ²

Journalism

Injustice Watch’s journalism focuses on judicial matters in Cook County, Illinois. Common topics include judicial races, major court cases, judicial activism and reform, corruption, police conduct, and penal system policies. ³

One of Injustice Watch’s most notable publications is its “Exploited Elders” series which looked at various instances of the Cook County judicial system failing to protect elderly citizens. For instance, arrests and prosecutions of fraudsters targeting the elderly have plummeted over the last few years despite an increase in such offenses. Injustice Watch claims that its reporting has instigated several town hall meetings to explore reform options. ⁴

According to lawyer and blogger Jack Leyhane, Injustice Watch is “one of the few places interested persons can go for original reporting about judges and judging in Cook County.” However, Leyhane has noted: “The site does have a definite point of view; a commenter in the last election cycle called Injustice Watch about as neutral as Bernie Sanders‘ birthday party.” ⁵

Anti-Racism

In June 2020 in response to the death of George Floyd, Injustice Watch published an essay entitled “Our commitment to anti-racism.” Injustice Watch wrote, “We have not done enough to name racism and the role it plays in the criminal justice system. We’ve often failed to center the voices and experiences of Black people and other impacted communities in our reporting. Moreover, we’ve lacked the intentionality and investment necessary to foster a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our newsroom.” ⁶

Injustice Watch stated its commitment to reform its organization to focus on “dismantling” racism “in our newsroom, in our journalism.” ⁷

According to an analysis by the Institute for Nonprofit News, Injustice Watch is a positive case study in successfully implementing left-of-center diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in a nonprofit organization. ⁸

Cook County Election Guide

Injustice Watch publishes election guides for Cook County, Illinois. The guides feature an infographic that breaks down every local election down to individual streets. Every candidate is presented with a brief description, major career highlights, his or her campaign finance status, and a “rating” based on endorsements from relevant organizations. For instance, in the 2024 Cook County Judicial Primary Election guide state Supreme Court candidate Jesse G. Reyes (D) received a “positive rating” due to receiving over a dozen endorsements from bar and legal associations. ⁹

Injustice Watch claims that its election guides have increased voter participation in judicial elections. ¹⁰

Funding

In March 2024, the Tawani Foundation, the grantmaking foundation of Jennifer Pritzker, donated $100,000 to Injustice Watch to help the organization develop its 2024 Cook County, Illinois, judicial election guides. ¹¹

From 2020 to 2023, Injustice Watch received four grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation totaling $355,000. ¹²

In 2023, Injustice Watch received at least $5,000 from the Miami Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the Square One Foundation, the Institute for Nonprofit News, the Sidley Austin Foundation, and the Fund for Investigative Journalism. ¹³

Leadership

Juliet Sorensen has been the executive director of Injustice Watch since July 2019 and has been a professor at Northwestern University since September 2016. Sorensen previously worked on the Cook County Board of Ethics and as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois for the U.S. Department of Justice. ¹⁴

1. “TAWANI Foundation Gifts $100,000 Program Grant to Injustice Watch.” Patch. March 21, 2024. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/tawani-foundation-gifts-100-000-program-grant-injustice-watch-nodx.
2. “Injustice Watch.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/injustice-watch-10115324/.
3.  “Criminal Courts.” Injustice Watch. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://www.injusticewatch.org/topics/criminal-courts/.
4. “Exploited Elders.” Injustice Watch. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://www.injusticewatch.org/projects/exploited-elders/.
5. Leyhane, Jack. “About that shill story on Injustice Watch.” Leyhane. February 26, 2020. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://leyhane.blogspot.com/2020/02/about-that-shill-story-on-injustice.html.
6. “Our commitment to anti-racism.” Injustice Watch. June 4, 2020. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://www.injusticewatch.org/staff-news/2020/injustice-watch-anti-racism-commitment/.
7. “Our commitment to anti-racism.” Injustice Watch. June 4, 2020. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://www.injusticewatch.org/staff-news/2020/injustice-watch-anti-racism-commitment/.
8. “Case Study: The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) series.” Institute for Nonprofit News. May 2021. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://inn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/CaseStudy.Injustice-3.pdf.
9. “Check Your Judges.” Injustice Watch. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://interactives.injusticewatch.org/judicial-election-guide/2024-primary/en/.
10. “Our Impact.” Injustice Watch. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://www.injusticewatch.org/about/impact/.
11.  ^[1] “TAWANI Foundation Gifts $100,000 Program Grant to Injustice Watch.” Patch. March 21, 2024. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/tawani-foundation-gifts-100-000-program-grant-injustice-watch-nodx.
12. “Injustice Watch.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/injustice-watch-10115324/.
13. “Supporters.” Injustice Watch. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://www.injusticewatch.org/about/supporters/.
14. ^[1] “Juliet Sorensen.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 24, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliet-sorensen-b73b187/.