When the ADA was first passed in 1990, the world was a very different place, with the Internet in its early days. Since then, it has stepped into the center of everyday life: Many tasks can be done more quickly and efficiently online. While this has been a positive transformation, the law has failed to… Read More
I have been representing the criminally accused for nearly fifteen years—the entirety of my legal career. The first four years of my career were as a public defender—representing indigent Chicagoans on appeals of their criminal convictions. This included both direct appeals immediately after their convictions as well as appeals of dismissals of post-conviction or collateral… Read More
In my last post, I spoke generally about the rights of disabled detainees under the Americans with Disabilities Act, (“ADA”), and Rehabilitation Act. In this post, I want to highlight some recent settlements that enforced these rights. These examples are just a slice of what is possible, but they give a snapshot of the ADA… Read More
One Friday afternoon when I was about 10 years old, I was watching The Koz Zone on Channel 32 (WFLD, the local Fox affiliate in Chicago). The program was hosted by Rich Koz (who may be better known to some Chicago-area UHF viewers as “Svengoolie”) and came on in between the afternoon line-up of animated shows like… Read More
Mothers’ Day is meant to celebrate all of the emotions and dedication that go into nurturing our children into adulthood. One way to help alleviate a particular hardship that many mothers face in caring for their children is to help bail a mother out of jail so that she can be home to help care… Read More
In 1999, Loevy and Loevy was a tiny, scrappy organization providing high-level legal representation to civil rights clients on a shoestring. Clients were often turned down by more established firms, and our cases were almost universally seen as the underdog. Our first employee was hired, and in addition to intelligence, he showed remarkable grace and… Read More
For every cover letter I’ve written for a legal job, I’ve written that I would be a “zealous advocate.” Indeed, most legal job postings provide in the descriptive section that the job requires “zealous advocacy.” This is because lawyers have a strict ethical responsibility to “advocate zealously” on behalf of their client. See American Bar… Read More
Victor Rosario Attempted to Save the Victims of a House Fire, But Instead Was Wrongfully Convicted of Causing Their Accidental Deaths LOWELL, MA – Victor Rosario, a man who spent 32 years, more than half of his life in prison for crimes he didn’t commit, today filed state and federal lawsuits against Lowell, MA police… Read More
Last month, the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General began notifying approximately 7,500 people that their drug convictions have been overturned. This is just the latest chapter in the fallout from two massive scandals that have unleashed chaos in the Massachusetts court system and have called into question the integrity and fairness of forensic science. Decades… Read More
The United States Constitution guarantees all individuals the right to be treated with dignity, equality, and respect. This obviously includes individuals, like myself, who have a disability. Too often, I read about law enforcement interactions with disabled people gone terribly wrong. It’s tragic and heartbreaking for a lot of reasons, but for me, knowing that… Read More
