Issues & Case Updates

Today lawyers from the People’s Law Office (PLO) and the Roderick MacArthur Justice Center filed a ground breaking class action petition, seeking new evidentiary hearings for a group of Illinois prisoners who allege  that they were tortured by notorious Police Commander Jon Burge and his cabal of Chicago Police officers into giving confessions that provided the basis for their convictions

Puerto Ricans Reject Constitutional Amendment to Limit Right to Bail By Alberto Rodriguez, Paralegal, People’s Law Office Over 800,000 voters in Puerto Rico voted on August 19, 2012 on a referendum to amend the island’s constitution to give judges the right to deny bail to defendants in certain criminal cases and to reduce the size of the legislature. The pro-statehood

Just over two years ago, on September 24, 2010, FBI agents raided activist homes in Chicago and Minneapolis, seizing documents, computers, cell phones and personal items.  They also served 14 subpoenas on anti-war and international solidarity activists, ordering them to appear as witnesses before a grand jury investigating “material support for terrorism.”  In December of 2010, 9 additional activists who

Yesterday saw a significant legal victory not only for the Occupy movement, but also in the fight for free speech.  Charges against 92 Occupy Chicago activists were dismissed on the grounds that the charges violated the First Amendment. In October of last year, as the Occupy movement swept the country, hundreds of activists associated with Occupy Chicago risked arrest by

Cook County Court Dismisses more than 90 Cases Against Occupy Chicago Protesters Judge rules park curfew ordinance unconstitutional on its face and as applied Chicago, IL — Cook County Court Judge Thomas Donnelly dismissed over 90 cases today against Occupy Chicago activists who were arrested last October and charged with a violation of rarely used park curfew law. Judge Donnelly issued

Nearly a year after the mass arrests of Occupy Chicago activists, the Circuit Court of Cook County is set to rule on the Motion to Dismiss Charges based on First Amendment grounds.  Tomorrow, September 27, Judge Donnelly, the judge presiding over the case will issue a ruling as to whether the City’s restriction preventing the occupation of Grant Park violates the

Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission- Defunded but not Forgotten By Flint Taylor, Civil Rights Attorney at People’s Law Office Also Appears on Huffington Post In 2009, the Illinois Legislature, in response to the demands of Chicago community activists led by Black People Against Police Torture, passed the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission Act. The act, which was championed

October 22 Deadline to Submit Claim Form in Anti-war Class Action Earlier this year, Vodak v. City of Chicago, a class action lawsuit resulting from false arrests at a 2003 anti-war protest settled for $6.2 Million. After nine years of litigation, attorneys from the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild scored a significant victory by settling the suit. The

Today, September 13, marks the 41st anniversary of the brutal attack by New York police officers and prison guards which ended the Attica Prison Rebellion which began on September 9, 1971. People’s Law Office was among a group of civil rights attorneys around the country who immediately responded to the massacre and provided legal representation to inmates who were charged

80 Year Old Chicago Police Torture Victim to Obtain His Final Vindication By Flint Taylor, Civil Rights Attorney at People’s Law Office Article also appears on Huffington Post On September 10, 2012 the Finance Committee of the Chicago City Council approved a $950,000 settlement for 80-year-old police torture victim Oscar Walden, the penultimate event in Walden’s 60 year battle to