[Peace-discuss] P4P cops and robbers - and lawyers

[Ricky Baldwin]

Here’s the scoop:

Sharon spoke to a lawyer named Marvin Gerstein, who
turns out to be the attorney that Lori Serb’s attorney
Harvey Welsh would choose to defend him if he needed a
lawyer.  “He’s not afraid of anybody,” according to
Welsh’s secretary.

Gerstein impressed Sharon, when she described the
situation with sidewalk drivers on Prospect and the
police failures/misdeeds, by immediately rattling off
a course of action: call the Secretary of State, call
the driver’s insurance company (tell them he’s using
the car as a weapon), send a letter from an attorney
to the Champaign cops saying we demand they act, etc. 
Of course, that particular case is now closed, but
what strikes me is the fresh ideas we hadn’t thought
of.

Unfortunately he will not work pro bono.  His
(reduced) fee for us would be $100 an hour.

I think we need to discuss some possibilities.  It
seems unlikely that Gerstein would participate in a
forum for free.  Maybe he would come speak to us for
15 minutes at the beginning of a meeting, but we
normally don’t pay for that either.  Maybe two or
three of us could meet with him for 15-30 minutes to
get some advice that we could bring back to the group,
but we would likely have to pay.  

It’s also possible that there are still others we
haven’t found who would help us pro bono.  Maybe we
could let Gerstein know that we’d like to call on him
the next time a situation arises, and try to find
someone else to speak with us about our rights in
general, pro bono.  Maybe we should start planning a
forum on “policing dissent” with reps from the police,
CCPRB, ACLU, etc. and try to find this pro bono
attorney to participate in THAT.

Also, I'd be willing to make some calls if I knew who
to call.

Carl, would your lawyer be interested or know of
someone who might be?

Would Steve Hartnett know someone, maybe from past
Teachers for Peace and Justice forum events? 

Anybody else?


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