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First Defense Legal Aid volunteers are on call 24/7A grant of $10,000 from the Illinois Bar Foundation will help First Defense Legal Aid (FDLA) continue to provide crucial legal services to more and more indigent individuals who are in custody of the Chicago Police Department. Now in its 13th year of operation, FDLA is the only program of its kind in the country that offers free, direct, 24-hour, seven-day legal representation to people who have been arrested and are being held without assistance. The Cook County Public Defender's Office is not permitted to represent clients until one of its lawyers is appointed by a circuit judge. Meanwhile, FDLA volunteers are on call to counsel arrestees and detainees. A long-term agent for change in the system, as well as an immediate remedy for individuals, the organization analyzes information gathered by attorneys at police stations and uses it to advocate for institutional improvements. FDLA also has helped thousands of people by intervening in minor occurrences and egregious incidents of police misconduct involving brutality and coercion that lead to false confessions. Its community outreach and Streetlaw educational presentations throughout the city inform residents about their rights during police detention, arrest and interrogation. As a member of the Videotaped Interrogations Task Force, FDLA supported legislation that in 2003 began requiring electronic recording of all homicide investigations. Its attorneys have witnessed improvements in treatment of client suspects. About 70 attorneys currently are committed to cover one 12-hour shift each month of telephone accessibility and response on evenings, weekends or holidays. The FDLA answering service, appropriately named Pronto, fields and screens calls at (800) LAW-REP4, then contacts the on-call attorney if a situation requires immediate attention. During business hours, FDLA office staff and volunteers answer calls, gather information, deal with non-emergency situations and follow up on pending cases. For more information, or to volunteer for emergency representation, call executive director John Hayes at (773) 434-4612 or access http://www.first-defense.org.
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