Legal resources for people in prison in Illinois

70 East Lake Street, Suite 1120

Chicago, IL 60601-5959

http://www.claim-il.org

(312) 675-0915 Fax (please phone first)

(312) 675-0912 For all non-collect calls

(312) 675-0911 For collect calls from correctional centers concerning Illinois Family Law cases only

Serves: IL

Focus area/description: Provides legal services to enable incarcerated mothers throughout Illinois to maintain contact with their children; individual legal services to mothers at Cook County Jail, Dwight, Decatur, Lincoln, and Fox Valley; also provides support services.

Established in 1985 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1987, CLAIM provides legal advice and representation to help mothers take proactive steps to prevent their incarceration from causing the permanent destruction of their families. CLAIM helps women and their children’s caregivers enforce legal rights such as mother-child visits, placement and guardianship options for children, and public benefits for children while their mothers are incarcerated. Through intensive legal counseling CLAIM assists incarcerated mothers to make sound, realistic decisions about their children’s placement and their families’ future. CLAIM makes referrals to services including substance abuse treatment, domestic violence programs, family counseling, GED and other education programs, and job training. CLAIM also provides a peer empowerment group for women coming home from jail or prison.

University of Illinois College of Law

504 East Pennsylvania

Champaign, IL 61820

(217) 333-4205 Voice

Serves: IL

Focus area/description: Prisoners' Rights Research Project is a student run organization at the University of Illinois College of Law. Its members are not licensed attorneys, and cannot offer legal advice.

PRRP can provide legal research on specific questions of Illinois or federal law. If you would like the assistance of the PRRP please mail a letter with specific questions you would like addressed. PRRP cannot accept for review any legal documents or court transcripts. PRRP cannot assist in finding an attorney and cannot represent clients.

Due to the volume of mail received, PRRP cannot answer all letters received. Law students at the PRRP will prepare a memorandum under the general supervision of a licensed attorney. The memorandum will represent their best effort to provide an objective analysis of the current state of Illinois or federal law on the issue or issues raised. It also may describe processes that appear to be relevant to your situation. It does not constitute legal advice, and you should not rely upon it as a basis for action. If you wish to pursue any legal action, you should seek the advice of an attorney.

375 East Chicago Avenue, Suite 529

Chicago, IL 60611

http://www.thejha.org/

(312) 503-6300

(312) 503-6306 Fax

Serves: IL

Focus area/description: Critical public oversight of prisons and juvenile correctional facilities in Illinois.

The John Howard Association (JHA) is a not-for-profit organization that works to achieve a fair, humane and cost-effective criminal justice system by promoting adult and juvenile prison reform, leading to successful re-integration and enhanced community safety. With its two leading primary initiatives, the Juvenile Justice Project and the Prison Monitoring Project, JHA uses citizen volunteers to monitor Illinois' juvenile and adult correctional facilities. Following each monitoring visit, JHA publishes a critical report on the facility. These reports inform the organization's policy work that focuses on improving prison conditions, increasing vocational and educational opportunities for prisoners, and decreasing the number of people who are sent to prison through alternatives to incarceration, sentencing reform, and creating more effective re-entry policies. Limited information and referrals to outside agencies and community-based organizations are also available.

Northwestern University School of Law

375 E. Chicago Ave.

Chicago, IL 60611

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/macarthur/

(312) 503-1271 phone

Serves: IL

Focus area/description: Impact litigation on criminal justice issues, especially prison conditions. Federal and state prisoners.

180 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2300

Chicago, IL 60601

http://www.aclu-il.org

(312) 201-9740

Serves: IL

Focus area/description: The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, dedicated to protecting freedom, liberty, equality and justice for all within the United States. The ACLU accomplishes its goals through litigation, lobbying and education programs. Through their Children's Project, ACLU-IL advocates on behalf of children in the troubled Illinois juvenile justice system.

122 Commerce Street

Montgomery, AL 36104

http://www.eji.org/

(334) 269-1806 fax

(334) 269-1803 phone

Serves: National,AL

Focus area/description: EJI litigates on behalf of condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders, people wrongly convicted or charged with violent crimes, poor people denied effective representation, and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct. EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment, and serves the state of Alabama and the Deep South in general, working nationally on selected issues. EJI also prepares reports, newsletters and manuals to assist advocates and policymakers in the critically important work of reforming the administration of criminal justice.

P.O. Box 128

Lewisburg, PA 17837-0128

http://www.lewisburgprisonproject.org/

(570) 523-1104 phone

Serves: National,PA

Focus area/description: The Lewisburg Prison Project (LPP) is a non-profit organization that assists prisoners who write LPP when they encounter treatment they perceive to be illegal or unfair. The Lewisburg Prison Project primarily assists inmates with issues that arise from their conditions of confinement. LPP writes to and visits inmates, and contacts prison authorities on behalf of inmates. The LPP also furnishes inmates with appropriate legal materials. As of 2010, the organization does not have an attorney on staff; therefore, the LPP is not able to give legal advice, file suits, or address criminal or post-conviction cases.

The Lewisburg Prison Project offers a range of low-cost legal bulletins ($1-3, prices subject to change) on specific topics concerning prisoners' rights. Inmates can write to the LPP to request a bulletin order form.

2011 Legal Bulletins include:
Litigation
1.1 Civil Actions in Federal Court: How to select, file, and follow legal actions.
1.2 Legal Research: Guide to Legal Research.
1.3 Access to Records: How to get your records; privacy.
1.5 Federal Tort Claims Act
1.8 Injunctive Relief
First Amendment
2.1 Religious Rights in Prison
2.3 Speech, Visitation, Association
Status
4.1 Rights of Pretrial Detainees
Due Process in Prison
6.1 Disciplinary Hearings
6.4 Urinalyis Drug Testing
"Cruel and Unusual Punishment": Eighth Amendment
7.1 Assaults and Beatings: Assaults by staff or inmates.
7.3 Conditions of Confinment: Heat, exercise, etc.
Medical Care
8.1 Medical Rights
8.2 Psychiactric and Disability Rights
8.3 Aids in Prison
Post Conviction
9.1 Post-Conviction Remedies
9.2 Detainers: Choices and Strategies
9.3 Pennsylvania Megan's Law: Overview of requirements
9.4 DNA Collection and Testing

915 15th St., NW, 7th Floor

Washington, DC 20005

http://www.aclu.org/prison/

Serves: National

Focus area/description: The ACLU's National Prison Project is the only organization that litigates prison condition cases on a national level. Since 1972, the NPP has represented more than 100,000 men, women and children. The NPP continues to fight unconstitutional conditions of confinement through successful litigation, public education, and other forms of advocacy. We are currently litigating programs from the Virgin Islands to California.