Criminal Justice Roundtable at the Law School

I just came across an event at the law school in May that looks really interesting. I know this is far in the future but I thought it might be something to keep an eye on and maybe even think about creating an event around while some of these speakers are in town. Bernard Harcourt happens to be scheduled to speak at this event.

More information is available here: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/events/index.html?Event=456

An organization to team up with...

Hey everyone,

Maybe we should work with this organization for our legal book drive: http://chicagobwp.org/

They can handle the logistical issues and we can just get the books to them. I think we definitely have a great deal of potential for collecting books on campus. Maybe we can actually set up a "book drive" where students give their old books to us.

Cool Radio Program

I know it's summer, but I just found a cool radio program regarding (among other things) real justice for America's poor. It is called "Justice Talking" and it is an NPR program. The cool thing about it is that all the old shows are archived at www.justicetalking.org. Paymon and I were talking about this and it seems that some of the old shows would provide great conversation points for our future meetings. Take a look if you're interested. Post back about anything interesting you may find!

Hope everyone is having a great summer. I'm looking forward to talking about our experiences when we return to campus this fall.

Cool Radio Program

I know it's summer, but I just found a cool radio program regarding (among other things) real justice for America's poor. It is called "Justice Talking" and it is an NPR program. The cool thing about it is that all the old shows are archived at www.justicetalking.org. Paymon and I were talking about this and it seems that some of the old shows would provide great conversation points for our future meetings. Take a look if you're interested. Post back about anything interesting you may find!

Hope everyone is having a great summer. I'm looking forward to talking about our experiences when we return to campus this fall.

Cook County Jail violates inmate rights, U.S. finds

By Jeff Coen |Chicago Tribune reporter

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cook-county-jail-web-jul18,0,3223109.story

TAMMS Correctional Facility

Hey everyone,

So last week Joe presented on TAMMS Correctional Facility and other Supermax prisons in the country. Well, it seems like others shared our outrage. Check out these articles...It seems that Illinois State Legislators are actually trying to do something about the problem:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/970595,CST-NWS-prison26.article

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-tamms-26-may26,0,1498035.story

Apparently, our discussion was very timely...Hopefully the Illinois legislature does something!

Deportation without Appeal

This recent story from This American Life details an almost unbelievable practice by the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) with regards to the deportation of widows of U.S. citizens who had not yet finished their immigration procedure when their spouse passed away. The absurdity of the practice is such that it must be filed into the category of "You can't make this stuff up."

The story can be streamed from here. (Starts around 31:50)

Act Two. This American Wife.

This American Life contributor Jack Hitt uncovers a strange practice within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. If a foreign national marries a U.S. citizen and schedules an interview for a green card, but the U.S. citizen dies before the interview takes place, the foreign national is scheduled for deportation with no appeal—even if the couple has children who are U.S. citizens. Jack talks with Brent Renison, a lawyer who's representing over 130 people in this situation, mostly widows, who are seeking to overturn the Immigration Service's rule.