Lawyer group stands watch during Chicago protests
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago's anti-violence protesters are getting silent support from about 100 lawyers with green hats.
The city's "Legal Observers" are trained volunteers whose job is to watch police during a protest, record any civil liberty violations and serve "as a deterrent to unconstitutional behavior." The lawyers are part of the National Lawyers Guild, an organization of progressive lawyers that was founded as a counterweight to the American Bar Association, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The Legal Observer program is also a byproduct of the police beatings of protesters and bystanders during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the most infamous use of force against a political demonstration in Chicago history.