Our Work
For Chicagoans and Illinois residents we exist to serve and protect.
Help Not Jail Hotline
The 24-hour 1(800)LAW-REP4 or 1(800)-529-7374 hotline serves as a referral service that now connects you with community and legal resources, connects you with the public defenders in the first 48 hours of arrest, and also serves as an entry point into FDLA programming and our civil rights legal aid referral program.
Community Education Programs and Materials
FDLA offers an array of Peer Education Campaigns that conduct street outreach, lead workshops, offer leadership development, and produce multimedia educational materials that build the hope, skills, and knowledge necessary for people to access their constitutional rights when in contact with the police or criminal system.
Currently, these offerings include a Know Your Rights campaign which spreads information on how to enforce your rights during arrest, an Enforce Your Rights manual which details what you can do if you believe the police have violated your rights, and a Jury of our Peers program that aims to raise awareness about the importance of serving on a jury.
Learn more: Know Your Rights || Enforce Your Rights || Jury of our Peers
Civil Rights Legal Aid Program (CRLAP)
One of our newest program additions, FDLA’s in-house CRLAP team offers civil rights legal aid to individuals who have had their civil rights violated by police and are looking to sue. Intake into this program is taken on a case-by-case basis, beginning with our civil rights referral process which can be accessed by calling our Help Not Jail hotline.
Advocacy
In tandem with our community, educational, and legal resources, FDLA continues to advocate for policy change that works to better communicate and retain the right to counsel as every arrestee’s constitutional right. Our projects include advocating for a public and centralized hotline for police station representation (achieved in March 2019 in partnership with the Cook County Public Defender), an end to Incommunicado Detention (realized in January 2021 with the Ordinance to End Incommunicado Detention), and most recently, a 3-in-3 campaign which ensures every Chicago detainee has access to 3 calls within 3 hours of arrest.
If you need resources and want to avoid police interaction, call 1-800-529-7374.
Help Not Jail hotline available 24/7/365.