It's impossible to faithfully reconstruct what happened during Hernandez's eviction court proceedings, because there was no court reporter present to make transcripts. This is the norm in Cook County. The absence of systematic record keeping for eviction trials means that both plaintiffs and defendants lose any meaningful opportunity to appeal judges' decisions. If judges behave inappropriately or misinterpret the law, there's no way to hold them accountable. Meanwhile, the lack of systematic record keeping about even the most basic things, such as the number and types of eviction cases filed every year and their outcomes, makes it difficult for....MORE
