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March 2005 From: Executive Director, Malcolm Rich To: Members/Friends of the Chicago Council of Lawyers & the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice In this e-Newsletter: The Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers announce the availability of the 2005 Edition of the Legal Services Directory of free and low cost legal services in the Chicago metropolitan area The 2005 Edition of the Legal Services Directory is a comprehensive listing of civil and criminal legal assistance agencies in the Chicagoland area that serve mainly low-income persons, persons with disabilities and senior citizens. Income eligibility standards, asset limitations and case priorities generally govern the case acceptance process for such projects. In addition to addresses and phone numbers, the Directory includes information about office hours, clientele served, fees, whether walk-ins (those persons without appointments) are accepted, and the types of services provided by each agency. The agencies and offices listed in the Legal Services Directory are divided into five sections: Legal Programs; Government Agencies and Offices; Bar Association Referral Services and Special Projects; Non-Lawyer Advocacy Programs; and Civic Organizations. Entries within each of these sections are listed alphabetically. The Legal Services Directory contains a General Index and a Subject Index in addition to the Table of Contents. The Legal Services Guidelines for income eligibility are provided at the back of the book. We have been publishing the Legal Services Directory for more than 20 years. The Legal Services Directory is available for $3.00 a copy for Council members and contributors to Chicago Appleseed ($5.00 for others). To order, please visit www.chicagocouncil.org and click on "Publications" or contact us at 312-988-6565, or ccl@chicagocouncil.org. Chicago Sun-Times publishes the Council's letter on "extraordinary rendition" -- the outsourcing of torture On March 1, 2005, the Chicago Sun-Times published a letter, prepared by Gordon G. Waldron for the Council's Civil Liberties Committee, that sets forth the Council's position on "extraordinary rendition" -- the outsourcing of torture: The Chicago Council of Lawyers calls on Congress to bar the United States from seizing persons and sending them to foreign countries where they are likely to be tortured. It further calls on Congress to bar the use of any U.S. funds for such purposes. The government has attempted to keep secret this practice, called ''extraordinary rendition,'' but recent media reports in the Washington Post, New York Times, Newsweek and New Yorker magazine have made it public. Here's one example. In September 2002 Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, was seized while in transit to Canada through JFK airport and sent to Syria at the request of the CIA. While in Syria Arar was tortured for about a year. Syria later released him, finding he had no link to terrorist activities, and he has returned to Canada and filed a suit against the United States. The United States has moved to dismiss the case, claiming it would force it to reveal ''secrets'' about national security. Another example, involving persons seized outside the United States: In December 2001, two Egyptian men seeking political asylum in Sweden were seized in Stockholm and forced onto a jet (apparently owned by a CIA front) and flown to Egypt. Both say they were tortured while in Egyptian custody. One was convicted by an Egyptian military court of terrorism-related charges. The other was set free. The Chicago Council of Lawyers believes that this practice already violates the Convention Against Torture, which the United States has ratified. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced legislation that would prohibit the United States from sending persons to countries that the State Department has certified commonly practice torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment during detention and interrogation. The Council calls on Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama and congresspersons from the Chicago area to support this bill. It also calls on Congress to pass legislation that would bar the use of any U.S. funds for such activities. The Chicago Council of Lawyers believes that rejecting the outsourcing of torture will not only demonstrate our respect for the rule of law, but will reaffirm the fundamental principle that abetting torture is not acceptable under any circumstances. Gordon
G. Waldron, member, Volunteers Needed: First Defense Legal Aid Council member, Jessica Webb, has submitted the following request for volunteers on behalf of First Defense Legal Aid: First Defense
Legal Aid (“FDLA”) is an organization committed to protecting the rights
of anyone detained by the Chicago Police Department who has not been charged
with a crime. Our attorneys are on call 24-hours a day, seven days a week,
to provide station house representation to those in police custody. Volunteer
attorneys are essential to the success of FDLA and FDLA could not exist
without them. FDLA is currently seeking volunteer attorneys to be
on call 6 p.m.-6 a.m. one night per month. No criminal law experience
is necessary and training is provided. For further information or to become
a volunteer, contact Jessica Webb at 773 826-6550 or by
e-mail at jwebb@first-defense.org Chicago
Council of Lawyers / Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice |