“Lawyers Say City Council Members Are Dodging Plan To Give Detainees Their Prompt Phone Call — So They’re Jumping In The Freezing Lake”
Pascal Sabino with Block Club Chicago writes about First Defense Staff’s demand to End Incommunicado Detention and allow detainees access to a phone call post-arrest. Here’s an excerpt of what Sabino has to say:
“The organization challenged the aldermen on the city’s Public Safety Committee to hold a public hearing on an ordinance that would require police to allow people under arrest to call for an attorney within one hour of their arrest. If a hearing is not set before Dec. 21, [2019] First Defense Legal Aid staffers have pledged to plunge themselves into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan.”
An interview with Staff Attorney, Daniel Massoglia, reveals the absolute importance of making sure detainees get a phone call within reasonable time after arrest. Sabino explains that access to an attorney “can be a matter of life and death,” particularly in the more vulnerable neighborhoods that First Defense works in and with. Although the push to ensure phone calls is being met with contempt by the city of Chicago, the campaign continues to grow more crucial as time passes:
“[A]ccording First Defense Legal Aid, surveys conducted by CPD and the Office of the Cook County Public Defender showed that less than two percent of arrestees actually get legal representation while they are at the police station. That means many are alone and without legal advice until after they are interrogated by the police.”
First Defense Staff is jumping into Lake Michigan after raising $500 each to help continue the advocacy work.