NEW: Second-Ever Class of the Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago Capstone Report, “School or Prisons,” Now Published
The forward, below, was written by David Schrodt, Board Member of the National Appleseed Network, Board Member of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, and Leader of the Collaboration for Justice’s FJLOC Working Group
This report is authored by the second-ever class of the Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago (FJLOC). Each FJLOC member was a full-time student at a Chicago university during the 2023-2024 academic year and plans to attend law school. Each completed the FJLOC program in addition to doing their schoolwork, and each did so without being compensated in any way. None received a dime, a promise of a job or a recommendation, or any other perk. They did get some free lunches, but they got those whether they satisfied their FJLOC obligations or not.
Each FJLOC member must satisfy two obligations: (1) complete at least one individual project on an issue of injustice in our community, and (2) meaningfully contribute to a group project addressing an issue of injustice. This report is a result of their group project. This report does not reflect any work the FJLOC members did for their individual projects. Some FJLOC members did court watching in Cook County Circuit Courts for their individual projects. Others wrote papers, in which they addressed topics such as Chicago’s diversion and deflection programs, the political influences in Chicago’s judiciary, and the underfunding of Public Defenders’ offices. These papers are remarkable under most standards, but they are even more so considering that none of the FJLOC members who wrote them are lawyers or even law students.
For this report, FJLOC members performed tasks and attended seminars that will benefit them in law school and in their legal careers. They interviewed experts and analyzed relevant publications, including court decisions. They examined laws and government policies. They wrote, edited, rewrote, and edited again. They attended many in-person and online meetings, including seminars conducted by professors and deans from Brown University, Northwestern University, and Lake Land College, a community college located in Mattoon, Illinois, which has a contract with the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide technical training to incarcerated persons in 25 Illinois prisons.
The FJLOC is a part of the Collaboration for Justice, a shared undertaking by the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers. These organizations have collaborated for over twenty-seven years to confront systemic problems in our legal system, and each see the FJLOC as fitting squarely within its mission and traditions.
Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council provide each FJLOC member with their own Lawyer Advisor. The Lawyer Advisors are licensed attorneys who perform roles for FJLOC members similar to that of supervising attorneys in the legal profession and research and writing instructors in law schools. Many also provide their FJLOC members with mentoring and advice on preparing for law school and beyond. The FJLOC Advisors are at the center of the FJLOC program, and make it readily scalable. Eight students finished last year’s program. 27 finished this year.
Prospective FLJOC members learn about the FJLOC program during the fall of their academic year from professors and staff at their schools. These academic professionals make this program possible. You will see why we are delighted to work with these talented professionals if you read the summary statements about the FJLOC members. The students from their schools who finish the FJLOC program are extraordinary. Please take the time to read their report. Their work will show you how extraordinary they are.