January, 2001Convicted Officials: Minorities go to trial faster; whites serve more time The average sentence of white officials was 47 months; black and Latino officials received an average of 34 months. Excluding the 15-year, nine-month sentence of former Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Maloney, which was more than twice as long as the next longest sentence, white officials averaged 29 months in prison. Maloney is the only judge in Illinois history ever convicted of taking a bribe to fix a murder trial. However, the Reporter analysis also showed that minority officials went to trial much more quickly than whites, giving them less time to prepare a defense.

February, 2001'Crack babies': Black children defy stereotypes, face bias After studying substance-exposed children, researchers now say that these babies can develop as well as non-exposed babies from the same socio-economic background. It took researchers years to come to these conclusions. In the meantime black families in Illinois have been disproportionately affected by the public policy shaped by the early predictions.

April, 2001CHA's Commuter Kids Adjusting to new schools or traveling long distances to attend their old neighborhood schools are two of the consequences facing children who move out of public housing.

May, 2001Chicago Valedictorians: Great Expectations Many of the best students from Chicago's predominantly black and Latino public high schools can't meet the standards of the most competitive colleges and universities.

June, 2001The Silent Dropouts As the elementary dropout rate climbed by 86 percent in the 1990s, the school system has failed to develop programs to help or keep track of those youths.

July, 2001Preconceived Notions: Race, Class and Juries Jurors bring their racial and economic backgrounds into the jury room, and that may affect the outcome for black defendants in Cook County.

September, 2001Latino Clout: A Generation Away In the past 20 years, Cook County's Latino population has grown by 115 percent, but some leaders and experts wonder whether Latinos are ready to make political capital out of their numbers.

November, 2001Voters Lose, Politics Wins in Illinois FIRST Politics has overruled need in the last two years as Gov. George H. Ryan and the state's four top legislative leaders doled out $789 million from Illinois FIRST, a $12 billion public works program.