“In Chicago, less than 1% saw a lawyer after arrest”
Rosa Flores, with CNN, cites First Defense Legal Aid and Know Your Rights leader and paralegal Charles Jones III in an article explaining the disturbingly low number of arrestees who gain access to counsel in police stations. Rose Flores writes:
“Jones’ story illustrates a sobering fact about the nation’s third-largest city: In the past three years, less than half of 1% of people arrested in Chicago saw an attorney while in police custody – a possible violation of their constitutional legal rights – according to statistics provided by the Chicago Police Department after CNN filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act.”
Although rates of arrests continue to rise, the numbers of detainees who gain access to counsel remains staggeringly low. Flores interviewed FDLA’s Executive Director, Eliza Solowiej, who explained the ongoing issues surrounding access to counsel.
“Solowiej has been advocating for the civil rights of arrestees for years and says First Defense Legal Aid is ready to help. But time and time again, clients tell her they were not given access to a phone while in detention, she said.”
Flores goes on to interview Charles Jones III about legal education and the Know Your Rights programming at FDLA that teaches community members what their constitutional rights are and how to respond to a police stop. Flores quotes Charles Jones III:
“‘You are not required to give them (police) any information other than your name, address, phone number and date of birth,’ Jones tells the assembled group. He passes out business cards with the toll-free number to First Defense Legal Aid and, as a reminder, two phrases printed on the back: ‘I will not talk. I want my lawyer.’”