Important Issues Facing Vulnerable Communities: How Law Students and Lawyers Can Make a Difference

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1 Important Issues Facing Vulnerable Communities: How Law Students and Lawyers Can Make a Difference Cynthia Cornelius Director of Client and Community Services Cabrini Green Legal Aid October 24, 2014 Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair

2 Cabrini Green Legal Aid Our purpose is to answer God s call to seek justice and mercy for those living in poverty by providing legal services that strengthen lives, families, and communities. We provide high impact legal services in the areas of: Housing Law Family Law Criminal Defense Criminal Records

3 We integrate legal and social services through strategic partnerships and in-house support staff to create long-term impact on those we serve. Our Target Population: People who are negatively impacted by the criminal justice system because: Cabrini Green Legal Aid The US incarcerates more people per capita than any other industrialized nation. 20% of adults in the US have a criminal record. 1 in 100 adult men in the US is in prison. 1 in 28 children in the US has a parent behind bars.

4 A New Movement to Change This Situation We've gotta build an underground railroad. We've gotta build an underground railroad for people returning home from prison, helping to save people one by one, helping them find food and shelter and work. And we've got to embrace those labeled criminals, not necessarily all their behavior - but them. Michelle Alexander Author of The New Jim Crow

5 A New Movement Can the underground railroad help to ensure that leadership emerges, continues to emerge, you know, from prisoners and formerly incarcerated folks? Absolutely. It is very difficult for people who are struggling literally to figure out where their next meal is coming from, or where they're gonna sleep. People need to have basic needs met in order for it even to be possible to contemplate devoting one's life to the service of others. Michelle Alexander Author of The New Jim Crow Ibid.

6 A New Movement It is my hope that by building this underground railroad and by working in partnership with people who have been directly impacted by this system, that we will build a movement in which the voices of those who have been harmed the most and who have suffered the most in the system are not only heard, but are helping to shine the way. Michelle Alexander Author of The New Jim Crow Ibid.

7 A New Movement:

8 The Old Underground

9 The Old Underground The Players: Stationmasters Conductors Stockholders John Quincy Adams Roger Sherman Baldwin Francis B. Murdoch Montgomery Blair and Lawyers

10 The Old Underground

11 Expungement and Sealing and Alternative Forms of Relief from Criminal Records

12 Options that are available to overcome barriers created by criminal records (Illinois) Eligible Non- Convictions and Convictions Expunge Seal Ineligible Convictions Executive Clemency Health Care Waivers Certificates of Rehabilitation

13 Evidence required to obtain relief Explanation of Conviction Reasons and Justification for Specific Relief Proof of Rehabilitation Specific to Record Educational and Employment History Context of Criminal History in Life History

14 What can YOU do?

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