Episode 3: Race and Criminal Justice – Attorney Beal, A.S.A.
“The criminal justice system, as it stands today…was actually born out of a justice system that was intent from back in Jim Crow era and in the slavery days of enforcing laws mainly against African-Americans.”
About our Guest
Rivanda Doss Beal has been a lawyer for 27 years and is a retired Supervising Assistant State’s Attorney at the Chicago Cook County State’s Attorneys’ Office. A graduate of IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Attorney Beal has been active in her community for many years. She has served as an Executive Board Member for the Dr. Elzie Young Community Center in the Princeton Park community in Chicago. Working with children and teens is a passion of hers and to that end she has organized etiquette seminars, drama camps, mock trial trainings, and violence prevention programs at the Center for the neighborhood children and residents. As an Assistant State’s Attorney, Beal has handled misdemeanor cases, felony cases, post-conviction and actual innocence claims as well as appellate prosecutions. She has also served as a supervisor for Preliminary Hearings and in Post-Conviction litigation in Cook County.
