FDLA began in 1995 as a program under the Chicago Commons Association. FDLA’s core purpose was the maintenance of a 24-hour Chicago Police Custody Hotline, through which all Chicago residents could be connected with an on-call attorney who would provide general legal advice and actual police station representation, free of cost. FDLA became an independent corporation in 2002, and a 501(c)(3) organization in 2003. FDLA’s main focus is still the hotline system, upon which Chicagoans have grown to depend. Today, FDLA also provides educational outreach, participates in community organizing, and engages in systemic reform activities.
In Illinois, as in most states, people generally do not have an attorney within the 48 hours after an arrest. The first 48 hours a person is in custody is critical, as it is during this time that they are most susceptible to having their constitutional rights violated. It is also the time during which police officers employ a variety of tactics to obtain confessions, many of which have proven to result in false confessions. While the police have unlimited access to prosecution attorneys (some of whom play a role in the interrogations) during this time, a suspect does not have similar access to an attorney. FDLA helps level the playing field for anyone in custody while protecting their legal rights.
In an effort to promote the Chicago Police Custody Hotline and educate Chicagoans on the power of their Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights, FDLA presents Street Law in schools and community groups. The Street Law presentations focus on what to do if you are stopped, searched, or arrested by the police, how to assert your rights at home, on the street, and at the police station, and what you can do if you feel that the police have violated your civil rights.
Through the Chicago Police Custody Hotline, FDLA partners with the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender for direct legal representation. The Public Defender’s office operates a 24-hour unit that is staffed with attorneys who are trained in effective defense strategies at police stations. The unit sends attorneys to police stations throughout Chicago and Cook County 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.
FDLA’s program is unique. Because of FDLA’s history of direct legal representation, educational programming, community organizing and political advocacy, FDLA’s staff has a holistic understanding of the problems within the various communities in Chicago. Additionally, FDLA is the beneficiary of insights from the myriad of community organization partners that address varying needs of their constituencies.
![(continued from previous slide) [to allow public defenders to begin representation...] immediately, know your rights education starting in middle school, and access to phones to call one's attorney upon arrest.
2014:
- Chicago police report only 0.3% of people under arrest ever have legal representation, the highest rate on record at the time.
- FDLA visits and learns from British and French systems for universal access to counsel for arrestees.
- University of California at Irvine Law Review predicts over $14 million in annual savings when everyone can access counsel upon arrest.
2015:
- Chicago police report only 0.6% of people under arrest ever have legal representation, the highest rate on record at the time.
- Incommunicado detention in CPD custody is international, national, and local breaking news.
- UN Committee on Incommunicado Detention investigates access to counsel for arrestees in Chicago.
2016:
- Chicago police report only 1.0% of people under arrest ever have legal representation, the highest rate on record at the time.
- Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli commits to representing custodial suspects.
- Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle publicly supports public defense for arrestees.
- Mayor's Taskforce for Police Accountability recommends FDLA's policy agenda.
- Mayor supports increased access to counsel for Chicago arrestees on CNN.
2017:
- Chief Judge Tim Evans issues a general order appointing counsel for anyone in police custody who wants a lawyer.
- Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx supports access to counsel for arrestees.
- Chicago police report only 1.5% of people under arrest ever have legal representation, the highest rate on record to date.
- Chicago police commit to posting notice of how to access free legal defense in police custody throughout every facility.
- Assistant public defenders respond to hotline calls during business hours, going to the police stations for the first time in history.
2018:
- Agreed consent decree draft from the City and Illinois Attorney General includes assurances for access to counsel upon arrest.
- City of Chicago sets goal of increasing access to counsel to at least 10.0% ASAP and establishes a grant fund supporting community-based organizations to promote critical know-your-rights information in the 18 wards represented by members of the Aldermanic Black Caucus.
2019:
- The Office of the Cook County PUblic Defender assumes full responsibility for staffing the hotline with their attorneys 24/7/365.
- FDLA community education and policy advocacy continue until everyone can access their right to counsel upon arrest.
- FDLA launches new mission and strategic plan for demonstrating and incubating additional interventions and alternatives to unnecessary incarceration and police engagement.](https://www.first-defense.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Timeline2.png)
Faith Pledger, Department of Labor, Interim Chair
Hugh Mundy, the John Marshall Law School, Secretary
Fernando Moreno, Spanish Public Radio, Treasurer
Emmanuel Andre, Northwestern University, Member
Sharone Mitchell, Illinois Juvenile Justice Project, Member
Debra Lefler, Katten LLP, Member
Mariana Karampelas, Latino Union, Member
Julie Biehl, Director, Children and Family Justice Center
Jeff Brown, Northeastern University
Besty Clark, Juvenile Justice Initiative
Elfreda Dockery, Law Offices of Elfreda Dockery
Richard Dvorak, Dvorak, Toppel & Barrido, LLC
Alan Mills, Uptown People’s Law Center
Shaena Fazal, John Howard Association
Craig Futterman, University of Chicago School of Law
Scott Levy, Law Offices of Scott Levy
John Lyke, Law Offices of John Lyke Jr.
Wayne Novak, Law Offices of Wayne Novak
Sean P. MacCarthy, Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC
Dev Parikh, Law Offices of Dev Parikh
Emlyn Ricketts, Jones College Prep
Sulaiman M. Qazi, Abbott Laboratories
Sarah Garza Resnick, Cook County Public Defender’s Office
Brendan Shiller, Shiller Preyar
David Simon, Eimer Stahl LLP
Patricia Smith, Law Offices of Patricia A. Smith
Theodore Woerthwein, Woerthwein & Miller
Alan Goldberg: Office of the State Appellate Defender
Andrea D. Lyon: DePaul University College of Law
Carol A. Brook: Federal Defender Program
Cathy Cohen: University of Chicago department of Political Science, Black Youth Project
Cheryl Graves: Community Justice for Youth Institute, Northwestern Univeristy School of Law Children and Family Justice Center (Former Professor)
Darrius Lightfoot: Fearless Leaders by the Youth
David Coar: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Former District Judge)
Edwin A. Burnette: Former Cook County Public Defender
Flint Taylor: Founding Partner People’s Law Office
Harold Saffold: CPD Veteran, Founding member of: FDLA Board of Directors, Afro-American Patrolmen’s League (AAPL) and the National Black Police Association (NBPA)
Harold Winston: Assistant Cook County Public Defender and Supervisor in the Post-Conviction Unit
Herschella Conyers: University of Chicago Law School Mandel Legal Aid Clinic
Jamie Kalven: Invisible Institute
Jane Raley: In Memoriam: Northwestern University Law School’s Center on Wrongful Convictions
Joey Mogul: People’s Law Office, DePaul University
John T. Fitzgerald: Howard Area Community Center (Retired Executive Director)
Jorge Roque: New Life Center, CeaseFire Violence Interrupter
Karen Yarbrough: Cook County Recorder of Deeds
Kenneth L. Cunniff: Law Offices of Kenneth L. Cunniff
Locke E. Bowman: Northwestern University School of Law
Martin Castro: Former Chair: Illinois Human Rights Commission, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Miguel Rodriguez: Alternatives Inc., Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development (BUILD)
Ora Schub: Community Justice for Youth Institute
Eugene Pincham: In Memoriam, Former Justice, Illinois Appellate Court
Randolph N. Stone: University of Chicago School of Law
Richard S. Kling: Chicago-Kent College of Law
Robert Wildeboer: WBEZ
Scott Turow: Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and Author
Sladjana Vuckovic: Law Office Of Sladjana Vuckovic, Former First Defense Staff Attorney
Sonia Antolec: Chief Administrative Law Judge for Illinois Healthcare and Family services, Former Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney
Stan Willis: Law Office of Standish E. Willis, Ltd., Black People Against Police Torture
Terence F. MacCarthy: Federal Defender Program
Terrence Truax: Jenner & Block
Terri Mascherin: Jenner & Block
Thomas Sullivan: Jenner & Block
Thomas Breen: Breen & Pugh