The 1996 Democratic Convention

In 1996, twenty eight years after the 1968 Democratic National Convention spotlighted the brutality of Mayor Richard J. Daley’s police, the DNC returned to Chicago and placed Mayor Richard M. Daley’s police under scrutiny.  Many different progressive groups planned actions, demonstrations and celebrations throughout the convention week. One broad coalition entitled “Not on the Guest List” planned a march to the convention site, focusing on issues of political prisoners. Although police personnel reported that the march was peaceful, five people who were present at the march were arrested by Chicago police almost 48 hours later and charged with felony mob action and aggravated battery. We participated in the criminal defense, all five were acquitted of all charges, and we then filed a civil suit on their behalf for false arrest and malicious prosecution.

 

HISTORY BY SECTION

Early Days
The Murder of Fred Hampton
Government Surveillance
Representing the Panthers in Downstate Illinois
Attica New York Prison Riots
The Fred Hampton Murder Trial
Prisoner Rights Work
Puerto Rican Independence Movement and the Puerto Rican Community
Fred Hampton Appeal
George Jones Street Files and False Imprisonment
Representing Demonstrators, Protestors, and Activists
Greensboro
Puerto Rico Work Continues
Police Brutality and Torture
Continuing to Represent Demonstrators and Activists
The Attica Prison Civil Case
Continuing Work in Solidarity With Puerto Rico
Fighting the Death Penalty
Sexual Abuse Litigation and Illegal Strip Search
Back to the Supreme Court
The 1996 Democratic Convention
Policy and Practice Cases
False Arrests and Convictions
Continuing to Defend Dissent
Continuing the Fight for Justice in the Chicago Police Torture Cases
Criminal Defense for Civil Rights Abuses
Jail Suicide
Opposing the Criminalization of the LGBTQ Community
People’s Law Office and The National Lawyers Guild