Uptown People's Law Center
@uplcchicago.bsky.social
UPLC advocates for prisoners, tenants, and disabled people denied public benefits.
Uptown, Chicago, USA
Uptown, Chicago, USA
In moments like this, abolitionist leadership matters.
Congratulations to our colleague, Stanley Howard, on being named a 2026 Abolition Award Honoree. This recognition honors his work to abolish the death penalty, including helping end it in IL, and his continued advocacy for people in prison.
Congratulations to our colleague, Stanley Howard, on being named a 2026 Abolition Award Honoree. This recognition honors his work to abolish the death penalty, including helping end it in IL, and his continued advocacy for people in prison.
January 27, 2026 at 10:13 PM
In moments like this, abolitionist leadership matters.
Congratulations to our colleague, Stanley Howard, on being named a 2026 Abolition Award Honoree. This recognition honors his work to abolish the death penalty, including helping end it in IL, and his continued advocacy for people in prison.
Congratulations to our colleague, Stanley Howard, on being named a 2026 Abolition Award Honoree. This recognition honors his work to abolish the death penalty, including helping end it in IL, and his continued advocacy for people in prison.
IDOC has made its mail-scanning policy permanent. We condemn this decision.
Mail is a lifeline for people in prison, and for legal aid organizations it is essential to confidential, timely legal communication. This policy puts both at risk.
Mail is a lifeline for people in prison, and for legal aid organizations it is essential to confidential, timely legal communication. This policy puts both at risk.
January 22, 2026 at 3:18 PM
IDOC has made its mail-scanning policy permanent. We condemn this decision.
Mail is a lifeline for people in prison, and for legal aid organizations it is essential to confidential, timely legal communication. This policy puts both at risk.
Mail is a lifeline for people in prison, and for legal aid organizations it is essential to confidential, timely legal communication. This policy puts both at risk.
Prison staff engaging in sexual activity with people in custody is a felony in IL, yet abuse still happens.
As federal and state protections weaken, UPLC’s action matters more than ever. We protect individuals and stand with survivors.
❣️Support this work today: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
As federal and state protections weaken, UPLC’s action matters more than ever. We protect individuals and stand with survivors.
❣️Support this work today: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
Thank you for caring about people in prison.
Women in Illinois prisons are still facing sexual abuse and, too often, no one is held accountable. Sara* was sent to prison at 27 and placed in a wing for people with serious mental illness, where a ...
www.uplcchicago.org
December 27, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Prison staff engaging in sexual activity with people in custody is a felony in IL, yet abuse still happens.
As federal and state protections weaken, UPLC’s action matters more than ever. We protect individuals and stand with survivors.
❣️Support this work today: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
As federal and state protections weaken, UPLC’s action matters more than ever. We protect individuals and stand with survivors.
❣️Support this work today: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
A DOJ report shows that two IL prisons rank among the worst in the country for sexual abuse by staff.
At Logan Correctional Center, many of our clients are women who were abused and are seeking justice.
Support our year-end campaign and help hold institutions accountable: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
At Logan Correctional Center, many of our clients are women who were abused and are seeking justice.
Support our year-end campaign and help hold institutions accountable: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
Thank you for caring about people in prison.
Women in Illinois prisons are still facing sexual abuse and, too often, no one is held accountable. Sara* was sent to prison at 27 and placed in a wing for people with serious mental illness, where a ...
www.uplcchicago.org
December 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
A DOJ report shows that two IL prisons rank among the worst in the country for sexual abuse by staff.
At Logan Correctional Center, many of our clients are women who were abused and are seeking justice.
Support our year-end campaign and help hold institutions accountable: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
At Logan Correctional Center, many of our clients are women who were abused and are seeking justice.
Support our year-end campaign and help hold institutions accountable: www.uplcchicago.org/2025
Women in IL prisons continue to face sexual abuse by the people meant to keep them safe. Without an attorney, survivors cannot seek justice and more women are harmed.
Your year-end gift can help hold abusers accountable.
Give before December 31: uplcchicago.org/2025
Your year-end gift can help hold abusers accountable.
Give before December 31: uplcchicago.org/2025
Thank you for caring about people in prison.
Women in Illinois prisons are still facing sexual abuse and, too often, no one is held accountable. Sara* was sent to prison at 27 and placed in a wing for people with serious mental illness, where a ...
uplcchicago.org
December 9, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Women in IL prisons continue to face sexual abuse by the people meant to keep them safe. Without an attorney, survivors cannot seek justice and more women are harmed.
Your year-end gift can help hold abusers accountable.
Give before December 31: uplcchicago.org/2025
Your year-end gift can help hold abusers accountable.
Give before December 31: uplcchicago.org/2025
It’s #GivingTuesday! ⏰ Help us raise $8,000 to protect people in Illinois prisons.
🎁 New donors or anyone upgrading their gift today enters to win a UPLC tote. Every donation counts.
Donate now: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
🎁 New donors or anyone upgrading their gift today enters to win a UPLC tote. Every donation counts.
Donate now: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
This Giving Tuesday, make a difference in the lives of people in prison
Your generous gift will be put to use immediately to help people Thanks to the support of caring people like you, for over 45 years, UPLC has worked to support people in prison. Prisoners' rights are ...
uplc.networkforgood.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
It’s #GivingTuesday! ⏰ Help us raise $8,000 to protect people in Illinois prisons.
🎁 New donors or anyone upgrading their gift today enters to win a UPLC tote. Every donation counts.
Donate now: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
🎁 New donors or anyone upgrading their gift today enters to win a UPLC tote. Every donation counts.
Donate now: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday! 💥 We’re raising $8,000 to fight for people in Illinois prisons.
🎁 New donors or anyone who upgrades their gift is entered to win a UPLC tote. Every gift counts.
Donate early: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
🎁 New donors or anyone who upgrades their gift is entered to win a UPLC tote. Every gift counts.
Donate early: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
This Giving Tuesday, make a difference in the lives of people in prison
Your generous gift will be put to use immediately to help people Thanks to the support of caring people like you, for over 45 years, UPLC has worked to support people in prison. Prisoners' rights are ...
uplc.networkforgood.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday! 💥 We’re raising $8,000 to fight for people in Illinois prisons.
🎁 New donors or anyone who upgrades their gift is entered to win a UPLC tote. Every gift counts.
Donate early: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
🎁 New donors or anyone who upgrades their gift is entered to win a UPLC tote. Every gift counts.
Donate early: uplc.networkforgood.com/projects/265...
THIS Wednesday!
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Homes, Not Barriers: Protecting Rights Through the Just Housing Amendment. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meetin...
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Homes, Not Barriers: Protecting Rights Through the Just Housing Amendment. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meetin...
us02web.zoom.us
November 10, 2025 at 8:48 PM
THIS Wednesday!
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
People with records deserve a fair chance at housing.
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Homes, Not Barriers: Protecting Rights Through the Just Housing Amendment. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meetin...
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Homes, Not Barriers: Protecting Rights Through the Just Housing Amendment. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meetin...
us02web.zoom.us
October 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
People with records deserve a fair chance at housing.
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
Join UPLC for a free webinar about the Just Housing Amendment and how it protects your right to a home free from discrimination.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#FairHousing #KnowYourRights #UPLC
Check out UPLC’s 2025 annual report– see the stories and wins donors help make possible: www.uplcchicago.org/2025-annual-...
2025 Annual Report : Uptown People's Law Center
www.uplcchicago.org
October 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Check out UPLC’s 2025 annual report– see the stories and wins donors help make possible: www.uplcchicago.org/2025-annual-...
IL DOC is now scanning, and destroying, mail to people inside. Gov. Pritzker just signed a new law collecting data on how contraband is entering prisons, so why is this being done now? Tell JCAR to stop this:
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
September 19, 2025 at 2:21 PM
IL DOC is now scanning, and destroying, mail to people inside. Gov. Pritzker just signed a new law collecting data on how contraband is entering prisons, so why is this being done now? Tell JCAR to stop this:
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
“There’s this culture — [Illinois] DOC officials, going all the way up to the director, have known about it for years and have done nothing to remedy it,” said Nicole Schult, legal director at UPLC. More coverage of our lawsuits about sexual assaults by prison staff on @wttw.bsky.social:
Incarcerated Women Allege Sexual Abuse, Retaliation at Logan Correctional Center
Seven current and formerly incarcerated women filed federal lawsuits over the last week alleging sexual assault, harassment and institutional retaliation at Illinois’ primary women’s prison, Logan Cor...
news.wttw.com
September 18, 2025 at 3:55 PM
“There’s this culture — [Illinois] DOC officials, going all the way up to the director, have known about it for years and have done nothing to remedy it,” said Nicole Schult, legal director at UPLC. More coverage of our lawsuits about sexual assaults by prison staff on @wttw.bsky.social:
Reposted by Uptown People's Law Center
Today, Illinois celebrates the second anniversary of the successful implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act and the end of money bond!
Read our full statement here: endmoneybond.org/2025/09/18/c...
Read our full statement here: endmoneybond.org/2025/09/18/c...
September 18, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Today, Illinois celebrates the second anniversary of the successful implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act and the end of money bond!
Read our full statement here: endmoneybond.org/2025/09/18/c...
Read our full statement here: endmoneybond.org/2025/09/18/c...
Today, we joined other organizations in filing 7 lawsuits that reveal a pervasive culture of sexual assault by correctional officers at Logan prison in Illinois. Individual perpetrators must face accountability, and the DOC must address this ongoing cycle of abuse, cover-ups, and retaliation.
Female prisoners allege widespread abuse, retaliation at IDOC facility in multiple complaints
Seven current or former inmates at Logan Correctional Center have filed separate lawsuits against officers, prison staff and leadership, alleging a widespread pattern of sexual abuse.
www.chicagotribune.com
September 17, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Today, we joined other organizations in filing 7 lawsuits that reveal a pervasive culture of sexual assault by correctional officers at Logan prison in Illinois. Individual perpetrators must face accountability, and the DOC must address this ongoing cycle of abuse, cover-ups, and retaliation.
The federal gov't controls only a small portion of U.S. imprisonment. But the Trump WH is using funding & influence to pressure states & cities to expand & intensify criminal legal systems, by dismantling due process, increasing harsh sentences, & worsening prison conditions. From @prisonpolicy.org:
Tracking how the Trump administration is making the criminal legal system worse
A growing lists of the ways the Trump administration is making prisons worse and gutting programs that keep communities safe
www.prisonpolicy.org
September 16, 2025 at 6:59 PM
The federal gov't controls only a small portion of U.S. imprisonment. But the Trump WH is using funding & influence to pressure states & cities to expand & intensify criminal legal systems, by dismantling due process, increasing harsh sentences, & worsening prison conditions. From @prisonpolicy.org:
Today is National Voter Registration Day. You should know: (1/2)
September 15, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Today is National Voter Registration Day. You should know: (1/2)
IL DOC's "Emergency Rule" to scan prison mail is a self-made emergency to restrict and monetize communications between people in prison and their loved ones. Tell JCAR not to let these proceed!
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
September 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM
IL DOC's "Emergency Rule" to scan prison mail is a self-made emergency to restrict and monetize communications between people in prison and their loved ones. Tell JCAR not to let these proceed!
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
217/785-2254
jcar@ilga.gov
Read the open letter we wrote w/other orgs: IL DOC’s "emergency" mail policy risks exposing confidential legal mail, delaying urgent responses, & cutting off family contact for people in prison. We urge JCAR to oppose this harmful rule, which erodes privacy, justice, & connection for people inside!
Articles & Advocacy : In the News : Who We Are : Uptown People's Law Center
www.uplcchicago.org
September 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Read the open letter we wrote w/other orgs: IL DOC’s "emergency" mail policy risks exposing confidential legal mail, delaying urgent responses, & cutting off family contact for people in prison. We urge JCAR to oppose this harmful rule, which erodes privacy, justice, & connection for people inside!
Chicago spent $231.2M on police misconduct lawsuits in just 7 months. Chicago can’t afford endless payouts for cops to abuse people. Real accountability and reform are overdue.
Chicago Spent $231.2M to Resolve Police Misconduct Lawsuits in 7 Months, Nearly Triple Year’s Budget: Records
Even as the financial toll of decades of police misconduct is likely to grow in the coming months, Chicago exhausted its annual budget of $82.2 million months ago and had spent nearly triple that amou...
news.wttw.com
September 11, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Chicago spent $231.2M on police misconduct lawsuits in just 7 months. Chicago can’t afford endless payouts for cops to abuse people. Real accountability and reform are overdue.
Lawmakers in Connecticut are considering a bill to make it illegal for businesses and individuals in the state to manufacture, sell, or supply drugs or devices for use in executions anywhere in the country. This is a great step against profiteering from capital punishment!
Connecticut Could Ban Its Businesses from Helping Carry Out Executions Elsewhere - Bolts
Connecticut lawmakers are considering legislation to make it illegal to participate in the death penalty, following news that a local company helped fuel a federal execution spree.
boltsmag.org
September 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Lawmakers in Connecticut are considering a bill to make it illegal for businesses and individuals in the state to manufacture, sell, or supply drugs or devices for use in executions anywhere in the country. This is a great step against profiteering from capital punishment!
Trump’s plan to deploy military to Chicago could cost $1.6M per day—4x what it would take to house the city's unhoused! Our unhoused neighbors in Uptown are vulnerable during this manufactured crisis. We stand ready to continue to protect them & fight for the real solution: more affordable housing.
September 8, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Trump’s plan to deploy military to Chicago could cost $1.6M per day—4x what it would take to house the city's unhoused! Our unhoused neighbors in Uptown are vulnerable during this manufactured crisis. We stand ready to continue to protect them & fight for the real solution: more affordable housing.
Mail from loved ones and friends provides a vital lifeline for people in prison. Illinois prisons banning physical mail is harmful and unnecessary. There is no evidence that prison mail scanning reduces contraband—to the contrary, there IS evidence it does NOT address it.
Under Emergency Rule, Illinois Prisons Plan to Withhold Physical Mail in Favor of Electronic Scanning
The change comes after debate over the safety of physical mail. IDOC states that these emergency rules are intended to prevent the smuggling of contraband and hazardous substances into correctional fa...
news.wttw.com
September 6, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Mail from loved ones and friends provides a vital lifeline for people in prison. Illinois prisons banning physical mail is harmful and unnecessary. There is no evidence that prison mail scanning reduces contraband—to the contrary, there IS evidence it does NOT address it.
Hands Off Chicago is a grassroots effort to oppose military intervention in Chicago. Chicago does NOT welcome Trump's illegal and unnecessary invasion!
HANDS OFF CHICAGO | Opposing Trump's Military Occupation
Hands Off Chicago is a grassroots effort to oppose military intervention in Chicago.
www.handsoffchicago.com
September 5, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Hands Off Chicago is a grassroots effort to oppose military intervention in Chicago. Chicago does NOT welcome Trump's illegal and unnecessary invasion!
President Trump's executive order threatening the funding of jurisdictions that have moved away from cash bail is one more tactic in his platform of anti-Black racism and oppression. Illinois' passage of the Pre-Trial Fairness Act that ended money bail was groundbreaking, and we will not go back.
September 3, 2025 at 10:34 PM
President Trump's executive order threatening the funding of jurisdictions that have moved away from cash bail is one more tactic in his platform of anti-Black racism and oppression. Illinois' passage of the Pre-Trial Fairness Act that ended money bail was groundbreaking, and we will not go back.
Neurodivergent youth of color in custody are more than twice as likely to experience physical assault by staff as their white, neurotypical peers. This is racism combined with ableism. Youth imprisonment puts the most vulnerable at greatest risk.
New study finds confined neurodivergent youth of color are particularly vulnerable to physical assault by staff
A new study analyzing a national survey of youth in custody reveals stark disparities in rates of staff physical assault among Black and neurodivergent youth.
www.prisonpolicy.org
September 2, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Neurodivergent youth of color in custody are more than twice as likely to experience physical assault by staff as their white, neurotypical peers. This is racism combined with ableism. Youth imprisonment puts the most vulnerable at greatest risk.