CHA residents wins a battle

CHA residents Wins a Battle
By; Ms. Beauty Turner



For numerous of years the Chicago Police Department have been arresting young men and young women
For trespassing when they came to visit a relative or simply if they lived in public housing developments and couldn’t show the officers a State ID.
Community Activist Barbara Moore alerted me to this issue in 2005 when her grandson were constantly being detained and arrested after visiting her in the Robert Taylor Homes I written about it in the South Street Journal.

Dariul Moore age 18 at that time were allegedly threaten and told by CPD not to visit his bed ridden grandmother while she lived in the projects.
Or he would be constantly arrested for trespassing.
“One time was to much to be arrested for visiting my Grandmother,“ according to Dariul Moore
“My grandson was afraid to come over and visit me,” Moore said in a telephone interview on February 17, 08.
“It felt wrong to me; as if it were illegal even back than!” Moore added.

It’s unconstitutional for residents in public housing to be treated any less than being American citizens.
Being poor shouldn’t make you any less than any one else in America; and any one else that being treated unfairly challenge it in the court of law.

Recently that same issue were raised in 2007 during my Ghetto Bus Tours.
Residents from the Dearborn homes, and Harold ICKES Homes told me what were taking place in their homes,
Residents from Harold ICKES Homes sued CPD,CHA and the city about this trespassing issue .
And this year they are finding out that fighting back pays off.

Recently Attorney Tamara Holder stood up in support of some of the residents in the court of law and this is the results.

Defendants Acquitted In Ickes Trespass Case Elevates Tamara Holder’s Fight For Public Housing Residents
CHICAGO, IL (February, 2008) – On February 8, 2008, Tamara N. Holder, Esq., who has been leading the fight for Harold Ickes Homes residents, recently won two cases of trespass on the Ickes property by way of acquittal. The State of Illinois failed to meet its burden that Ickes residents could not have visitors on the property and such visitors would be arrested for trespass by Chicago Police.
Each defendant, Larry Smith and LaCharles Washington, was charged with two counts of trespass: Trespass to State Supported Land and Trespass to Real Property. Attorney Holder subpoenaed the Chicago Housing Authority and the Woodlawn Organization (the Ickes’ property manager) for alleged rules and regulations that residents could not have visitors.
LaCharles Washington was visiting his infant child prior to going to school at 10 am, when he was arrested outside the steps of an Ickes building and detained for ten days. He was later told by an assistant public defender to plead guilty if he wanted go home since he could not afford to post bond. Attorney Holder was in court that day and convinced Mr. Washington to withdraw his plea of guilty and fight for his innocence.
Friday’s victories also settle a previous belief of Judicial Sub circuit No. 9 Judge Marvin P. Luckman, who, in open court, previously told defendant Larry Smith, “Unless you are on the lease, you can’t be on the Ickes property.” Mr. Smith is also the father of an infant child who resides on the property; he was arrested with the child’s mother, Marie Battle, last July. Attorney Holder tried Ms. Battle’s case last October, which resulted in a not guilty verdict by Judge Luckman.
These acquittals now set a precedent for the many pending and potential future trespass cases against relatives and friends of Ickes residents. The victories also provide more fuel to the class action lawsuit filed by Attorney Holder on behalf of Harold Ickes Home residents against the City of Chicago Police Department in October of 2007. Attorney Holder has received hundreds of complaints regarding abuse of police power, including but not limited to trespass.
Attorney Holder, who represented the men pro bono, commented, “the most important thing to me is that public housing residents realize that they do not have lesser rights just because the live in public housing.” She continued, “These victories prove that if you fight for what is right, you will prevail. Many of these arrests and prosecutions are flat-out wrong and a waste of the taxpayer’s money.”
So many other young people have been arrested in public housing from the year of 05 until now,
Many of them now have a felony on their records concerning these trespassing charges.
Get in touch with Attorney Tamara Holder at-

About Tamara N. Holder:
Tamara N. Holder, Esq., (http://www.xpunged.com) is one of Chicago’s rising legal analytical stars. She gained national attention for fighting for the rights of railroad workers who were fired in the name of “homeland security” which led to a Congressional hearing. Her law firm specializes in criminal defense, expungements, Governor’s pardons, police brutality and personal injury lawsuits. Ms. Holder sits on the Women of Power Alumni Association Advisory Board; and is also the founder of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Expungement Clinic.
MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT:
ACM PR: A.C. McLean
TEL: 312 373 1778
Electronic Mail: acm@acmpr.com
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Because guess what if it is illegal now it were illegal than!
“Dare to fight back!”
“A close mouth never gets fed, and nobody knows your pain unless you tell them, and the squeaky wheel gets the oil!”