American College of Trial Lawyers honors Illinois Prison Project with prestigious Emil Gumpert Award

Yesterday, the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) presented Illinois Prison Project (IPP) with its prestigious Emil Gumpert Award in honor of IPP’s work providing legal representation to medically vulnerable people in prison. The Gumpert Award, which is accompanied by a $150,000 grant, recognizes innovative programs that improve the administration of justice. 

The Gumpert award will help to fund IPP’s Compassionate Release Legal Representation Program, which provides legal representation to medically vulnerable incarcerated people seeking release under Illinois’ new Joe Coleman Medical Release Act. Implemented in 2022, the Coleman Act creates an expedited pathway out of prison for the ever-increasing numbers of incarcerated people who are terminally ill and medically incapacitated. IPP has helped nearly 100 clients win release through the Coleman Act, allowing them to reunite with loved ones and spend the remainder of their lives with dignity.

Despite the promise of the Coleman Act, IPP found that only one-third of the hundreds of incarcerated people who are eligible for release have been freed. The single biggest factor correlating to success in the medical release process is representation by counsel: 75% of those represented by legal counsel were granted release, whereas fewer than 15% of unrepresented people were successful. 

“The continued incarceration of terminally ill and severely disabled people is a waste of taxpayer dollars and does nothing to protect public safety,” said Jennifer Soble, IPP’s founder and executive director. “We are thrilled to partner with our colleagues at ACTL to provide much-needed legal representation to medically vulnerable incarcerated people so they can spend their remaining days getting the care they need with the support of their loved ones.” 

Founded in 2019, IPP is Illinois’ only legal services organization providing large-scale, freedom-oriented representation to incarcerated people, irrespective of guilt or innocence. IPP has helped to free 173 incarcerated people, saving nearly 2,000 years of prison time, and saving taxpayers more than $271 million in correctional costs.