Reverend Jackson held a press conference to discuss human rights violations across Chicago.
By Jorge G. Zavala | Creative Director
Human rights violations, specifically within the judicial system in Chicago, have received attention in recent months. Last month, Reverend Jesse Jackson held a press conference, that included 2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti and several men who were incarcerated unjustly, to bring light to the injustices he says are "plaguing communities...across Chicago."
Human rights violations, specifically within the judicial system in Chicago, have received attention in recent months. Last month, Reverend Jesse Jackson held a press conference, that included 2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti and several men who were incarcerated unjustly, to bring light to the injustices he says are "plaguing communities...across Chicago."
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Mark A. Clements, current prison liaison for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression (CAARPR), is a former inmate who served time unjustly. "I was beaten, humiliated, and taken from my mother at 17 years of age," Clements stated. "My mother is now gone, and, what's worse, they found out that I really didn't commit (the crime) 25 years later." Clements was accused of a homicide in the city's Englewood neighborhood in the 1980s, but recent evidence and a re-trial proved him innocent. How did the city compensate his years in jail? "I received $50 and a bus pass," Clements laughed. "Do they think $50 is enough? I laugh because I am humiliated: we've become a joke."
 Community liaison and business leader Jorge Zavala Sr. and 2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti discuss ways to include former inmates into mainstream society. |  Rev. Jackson speaks with advocates to bring attention to prisoners' rights. |
Organizations across Chicago, like Reverend Jesse Jackson's Rainbow-PUSH Coalition and the Greater St. John Bible Church, are working together with local politicians, the Illinois State Attorney's Office, and community leaders, to bring awareness to what is happening and to advocate for fair trials. "It's still a predominantly black and brown problem," Reverend Jackson stated. "But these problems affect everyone, including the better-off black, brown, and white communities in the suburbs."
As for Mark Clements, he is currently suing the City of Chicago and the State Attorney's Office for negligence and wrongful accusation. "Yes, the money would be nice, but I am not suing just for the money," he stated. "Police brutality, ignorance, and a broken system keeps putting innocent people in jail. This can't go on anymore: lives are broken."
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