Chicago: Issues in Criminal Justice

Readings

Itinerary

Monday, April 25th

  • 5:45 am: Set your Alarms! Meet at Charlton Street for bus to LGA. We will depart as quickly as possible. 8:45 am: Flight: LGA direct to Chicago O’Hare Airport
  • 11:00 am: Arrive Chicago, take transit to hotel in Downtown Chicago
  • 12:00 pm: Arrive at Hampton Inn and unload luggage
  • 1pm: Cabrini Green Legal Clinic “Internship Training” and prep for court visits
  • 6:00 pm: Dinner in Downtown Chicago near hotel

Tuesday, April 26th

  • 7:30 am: Breakfast at Hampton Inn
  • 9am: Felony court with Tom Gerahty
  • 12 pm: Lunch around the Courthouse
  • 1:30 pm: Bond Court (1.5 hours)
  • 3 pm: Chicago Appleseed for Justice
  • 5 pm: Debrief/closure with Appleseed
  • 6:00 pm: Dinner—ethnic foods of the North Side

Wednesday, April 27th

  • 7:30 am: Breakfast at Hampton Inn
  • 9:00 am: Matt Daniels at Chicago Kent Law School: The Role of a Criminal Defense Attorney
  • 10:30 am: Break and early lunch
  • 12 pm: IMAN Workshop
  • 3:30 pm: Return to hotel
  • 5:30 pm: Cubs vs. Brewers

Thursday, April 28th

  • 7:30 am: Breakfast at Hampton Inn
  • 9:00 am: BUILD Workshop and Tour
  • 3:30 pm: Art Institute of Chicago tour
  • 5:30 pm: Dinner

Friday, April 29th

  • 8:00 am: Breakfast at Hampton Inn
  • 9:00 am: Travel to airport
  • 11:30 am: Delta 5942 departing Chicago
  • 2:36 pm: Delta 5942 arriving LaGuardia; students are either picked up at airport or travel to school with teachers

City Partners and Contacts

Cabrini Green Legal Clinic
http://www.cgla.net/
CGLA provides both criminal and civil legal services, integrated with social work support, to individuals facing barriers stemming from an encounter with the criminal justice system.We provide services in areas of acute need, including criminal records relief, defense, family and housing law.We partner with scores of law firms, corporate legal departments, and law schools to tap thousands of pro bono hours that multiply our impact.

Matt Daniels, Chicago Kent Law School Legal Clinic
Matt will engage with the students about the roles and duties of a public defender.

Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice
http://www.chicagoappleseed.org/
The Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice is a social impact research and advocacy organization which uses multidisciplinary research to identify community injustices, and to develop and advocate for practical solutions. Chicago Council of Lawyers is a public interest reform bar association which advocates for a fair and effective administration of justice. Together, the two organizations comprise a Collaboration for Justice, focusing on the areas of Criminal Justice Reform, Family Law and Community Court Reforms, Courts Administration Efficiency (including judicial performance, election and ethics issues) and Immigration Court Reform.The Chicago Council of Lawyers works independently of Chicago Appleseed in its efforts to evaluate judges for the purpose of educating voters.

BUILD Chicago
http://www.buildchicago.org/
Since 1969, BUILD has been a pioneer and innovator in youth development, now serving neighborhoods on Chicago’s West (Austin, Humboldt Park, Hermosa,West Town) and South (Fuller Park, Bronzeville) Sides.Through three primary program areas — Prevention, Intervention, and BUILDing Futures — BUILD partners with an array of stakeholders to offer a spectrum of services designed to build lives and futures.Whether by providing a school-based curriculum, youth leadership opportunities, positive out-ofschool activities or intensive, individualized mentoring, all of BUILD’s programs share the same objectives: to reduce negative behaviors, school expulsions and withdrawals, recidivism rates, and court and gang involvement, and to increase pro-social behaviors, school readiness and success, college access, and opportunities for happy, productive futures.

IMAN
http://www.imancentral.org/
IMAN, incorporated in 1997, was founded by an inter- generational group of students, residents, and organizers united around the need to address violence, poverty, and decay in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood located on Chicago’s southwest side. Driven by their values of service, compassion, and social justice, they began a community assessment and examined alternative strategies to address these conditions. Soon they gathered the attention of community leaders, residents, and others across greater Chicago who shared their commitment to social change. Their goal is to serve as the model of the Muslim tradition of facilitating transformational change in urban communities, by inspiring others towards critical civic engagement exemplifying prophetic compassion in the work for social justice and human dignity beyond the barriers of religion, ethnicity, and nationality. 

People’s Law Office
http://peopleslawoffice.com/
Attorneys from People’s Law Office in Chicago have been successfully fighting for the civil rights of victims of police brutality, wrongful convictions, false arrest and other government abuses for over 40 years. We believe that the law is an essential tool in fighting for and protecting your civil rights. Our attorneys are among the nation’s top civil rights lawyers, – passionate, skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced. Most importantly, we are unafraid of confronting and exposing injustice and corruption and will relentlessly fight for justice for our clients.