Can We Fix Our Criminal Justice System?

Why has Lake County become Exhibit A in the national discussion on wrongful convictions?

Can We Fix Our Criminal Justice System?”

On Tuesday, May 15, at 7 p.m.

North Shore Unitarian Church, 2100 Half Day Road, Deerfield, 60015 (just east of I-294 on north side of the street),

Event co-hosted by Tenth Congressional District Democrats (Tenth Dems) and Common Cause Illinois.

Panel members include Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions; Rey Lopez-Calderon, executive director of Common Cause Illinois; Jed Stone, criminal defense attorney; and former prosecutor Chris Kennedy.

This Tenth Dems University event is free and open to the public, but preregistration is preferred. Should the capacity of the room be exceeded, priority will be given to those who have registered.

In addition to discussing the wrongful-conviction mess in Lake County, the panel will discuss problems and offer solutions to these critical issues facing our community:

    

• Why are thousands of people spending time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit?  
• What are the economic and social costs of wrongful convictions on our community?  
•  Why would innocent people admit to a crime they didn’t commit?
• What changes can be made to law enforcement, prosecution, and our judicial system to prevent further damage?

 Rob Warden is an award-winning legal affairs journalist and cofounder of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. Warden has won more than 50 journalism awards, and in 2003 he was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame.

Rey Lopez-Calderon is a former labor organizer and political consultant who is currently the executive director of Common Cause Illinois. He is the founding community organizer of Alliance of the Southeast, a faith-based social-justice organization that brings together African Americans and Latinos on the South Side of Chicago.

As a criminal justice attorney for Stone and Associates, Jed Stone has acquired a nationwide reputation for the vigorous advocacy of fairness for his clients. He has been featured frequently on local and national television.

Chris Kennedy is a former prosecutor and statewide advocate for Illinois’ most vulnerable citizens, and he has passed landmark legislation. He is the Democratic candidate for Lake County State’s Attorney.

For more info, call 847-266-VOTE (8683) or email: info@TenthDems.org.

As the Tenth Dems urge: Get ready to rock and enroll!