News & Commentary

The Case of CeCe McDonald and Self-Defense Against Homophobic, Transphobic and Racist Attacks On June 5, 2011, Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald, an African American transgender woman, was assaulted by Dean Schmitz, a white heterosexual man, and his friends in a violent, racist, and transphobic attack. In the face of extreme violence causing her serious physical injury, CeCe defended herself. The Hennepin

June is Torture Awareness Month The People’s Law Office joins the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) and their partner organizations in their campaign during Torture Awareness Month to continue its efforts to “confront the culture of torture” in the United States. As NRCAT writes on its website nrcat.org. Torture has taken root in American culture and in Americans’ moral

People’s Law Office Lawyers Win Resounding Appellate Victory in Randy Steidl Wrongful Conviction Case On May 30, 2012, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in a powerful decision written by Judge Diane Wood, and joined by Judge Joel Flaum, a former federal prosecutor, and Judge Michael Kanne, a former City Attorney, denied immunity to police officers from downstate Paris Illinois,

Last week, Chicago hosted the NATO Summit, which brought foreign heads of state and military generals to our city. It also brought thousands of demonstrators into the streets in opposition to NATO’s policies of war and the economic policies of many of the member countries of NATO. During the summit, People’s Law Office was active in providing legal support to

My Kind of Town: A Compelling Play about Chicago Police Torture A Review by Flint Taylor of People’s Law Office On May 11, 2012, My Kind of Town, a compelling play about Chicago police torture that was written by award winning investigative journalist John Conroy and directed by Nick Bowling, opened at the TimeLine Theatre in Chicago. Conroy, who has

People’s Law Office client Michael Tillman recently settled his civil rights case against Cook County.  Tillman’s orture and wrongful conviction case continues against Burge, Daley and the City of Chicago. Tillman was arrested for murder in July of 1986 and tortured by two teams of Area 2 detectives working at the direction of Lt. Jon Burge and his “right hand

The US Supreme Court’s Ruling on Strip Searches Last month, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 decision, decided the jail strip search case of Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, affirming the split decision of Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Albert Florence, an African American, was riding as a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped

Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit Against City of Chicago Gets Preliminary Approval We have good news to report to you regarding the settlement of the class action lawsuit, Vodak v, City of Chicago, et al., stemming from the March 20, 2003 anti-Iraq war protest. On Monday, May 14, District Court Judge Virginia Kendall granted preliminary approval of the class action

THE BILL FOR PINSTRIPE PATRONAGE CHICAGO STYLE: $63.9 MILLION SINCE 2003 (Revised and updated on June 13, 2012) For more than 40 years, the City of Chicago has paid top dollar to private lawyers to represent the City and its police officers in the most notorious civil rights cases of assassination, torture, brutality, and wrongful arrest and convictions by Chicago

Political Repression in the Age of ObamaOriginally presented as a speech at CAIR-Chicago (Council of American-Islamic Relations) event “Guilty By Activism” on March 15, 2012 By Michael Deutsch, attorney at People’s Law Office In understanding the present dangers to our civil liberties, and the right to organize and to support movements here and throughout the world, we must analyze how