Political Quotes

“I rise today to support an important cause, at a critical time, increasing the representation of students from underrepresented backgrounds in law school and the legal profession. Senator Durbin and I have introduced an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill that would restore funding for a program which seeks to do just that the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program. The Marshall Program provides technical assistance, training, coaching, and financial assistance to prospective law students who might otherwise experience academic or financial obstacles to law school success. It also runs 6- week Summer Institutes that serve as a bridge between college and law school, and helps law students prepare for the bar exam. Since its inception, over 7,000 students have received their law degrees with help from the Marshall Program. I am proud to say that some of the Program's valuable initiatives are held at Illinois' own Northern Illinois University and DePaul University. Judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and other legal professionals are the faces of our justice system. It is important that these individuals come from a variety of experiences, and bring to their jobs a diverse range of perspectives. According to a national study commissioned in 2000, however, half of those polled believed that the justice system treated people differently because of their background.…”