CONTACT: Jeff Johnson, 309.397.4772; JTJohnson.PHR@gmail.com
Jimena Lopez,309.573.3283;jimenalopez83@gmail.com
PEORIA ACLU Chapter’s Annual Meeting is May 10, 2018
The Peoria ACLU Area Chapter’s 57th annual meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 10, 2018 at the IVY Club, 1502 N. Galena Road, Peoria Heights.
The guest speaker will beCeleste Stewart Stack, an attorney with extensive experience litigating constitutional violations including wrongful convictions, police misconduct, psychiatric issues and conflict of interest cases. She worked in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office in Chicago for three decades where she held various supervisory positions for 15 years, including supervisor of the Conviction Integrity Unit which was created based on the organization set out in her application for federal grant funds. Her units were responsible for reviewing and litigating 1,000 post-conviction petitions. She assisted Chicago attorney Andrew Hale on the Cleve Heidelberg wrongful-conviction case as well as other Central Illinois post- conviction and civil rights cases, and she recently opened an office for Hale Law in Peoria at 456 Fulton Street.
Sam Belfer Awards will be presented to Dr. Rahmat Na’Allah and Judge Lisa Wilson. Dr. Rahmat Na’Allah is a family physician practicing at UnityPoint Health, and she is on the faculty at University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. She believes access to health care is a basic human right and all women should have access to reproductive health care. Judge Lisa Wilson has been an Associate Judge in the Tenth Judicial Circuit since 2009, She is presently the chair of the Tenth Judicial Court Pro Bono Committee and the Tenth Judicial Circuit Family Violence Coordinating Council among many other organizations.
The event begins with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. with the program and speaker, presentation of awards and election of officers to follow. Reservations for the dinner are due by May 2. An invitation can be downloaded from the chapter website, at http://aclupeoria.org.
The public is invited, and welcome to attend the program free of charge. Media coverage is also welcome. ***