Gregory Chambers
Speaker, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ILLINOIS, ISSUES BRIEFING 2022
Born and raised in the city of Chicago on its South and Southeast sides, Gregory Chambers ventured into the field of law enforcement and served for several years as a Chicago police officer; but a set of unfortunate circumstances led to an emotional breakdown compounded by a traumatic brain injury and a term of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
While there, Chambers came to know the very individuals he had targeted as a police officer and realized injustice for one is injustice for all. So, he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to criminal justice reform.
He is currently leading a campaign for Live Free Illinois to bring Independent Monitoring to county jails to create a transparent inspection process that will hold jail administrators accountable for the conditions of its jails and the treatment of its detainees.
Chambers has collaborated with the Community Renewal Society as a leader, the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Illinois (RROCI), the Coalition to end money bond, The People’s Liberty Project, the Interfaith Criminal Justice Task Force, the Illinois Alliance for Re-entry and Justice and most recently the Fully Free campaign led by Marlon Chamberlain as a Governing Board member. He also participated in the Voting Rights panel held by Lieutenant Governor Julianna Stratton.
It is his goal to stay linked to those people and organizations who have an interest in restorative justice, reforming the criminal justice system, reforming the Department of Corrections, reforming the police departments, and providing greater opportunities for those formerly incarcerated who are intent on becoming productive members of society. Ultimately, eliminating barriers to successful reintegration is the goal while creating a fair, just, and equitable criminal justice system.