Amy Thompson

Staff Counsel, Criminal Legal System

Amy Thompson is Staff Counsel for Impact for Equity’s Criminal Legal Systems team. Her work has included researching and crafting recommendations to strengthen Illinois’ police officer decertification system, developing comments advocating for improvements to Chicago’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance and the federal Community Reinvestment Act, and supporting the Police Accountability team’s ongoing efforts to reform Chicago’s police union contracts and reimagine public safety.

Amy Thompson received her JD in 2019 from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, where she obtained specializations from the Critical Race Studies Program and the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law & Policy. As a law student, Amy served as Editor-in-Chief of the UCLA Women’s Law Journal and worked with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Civil Rights Corps in Washington D.C., and Public Counsel in Los Angeles. Prior to joining BPI, she served as a law clerk with the Honorable Nanette K. Laughrey in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Amy comes to this work deeply invested in dismantling systems of racial, gender, and economic oppression and committed to centering the voices of directly impacted people. These commitments motivate her not only to engage in work that targets white supremacy and systemic barriers to equity but also to be intentional about ensuring that the work is done in a way that builds the power of and follows leadership from the community.

Press Coverage: 

New proposed rules would lower the bar for stripping police officers of their badges in Illinois, by Sam Stecklow, Invisible Institute, Illinois Public Media, and Illinois Times

CPD traffic stops are down this year, but critics say there are still too many, by Amy Qin, WBEZ Chicago

Deputy who killed Sonya Massey joined Sangamon County Sheriff after past employers questioned his integrity and conduct by Farrah Anderson and Sam Stecklow, Invisible Institute and Investigative Reporting Workshop

Chicago Police traffic stops increase for the third year in a row, a new report shows by Jessica Alvarado Gomez, WBEZ Chicago

Chicago Police Continued to Target Black, Latino Drivers With Flood of Traffic Stops in 2023: Report by Heather Cherone, WTTW

Free2Move coalition demands end to racially driven traffic stops by Amina Sergazina, Austin Weekly News

Plan proposed to reduce excessive traffic stops of Black, Brown motorists by Fran Spielman, WBEZ Chicago and Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Police Continued to Target Black, Latino Drivers With Flood of Traffic Stops in 2023: Report by Heather Cherone, WTTW

Chicago Police traffic stops increase for the third year in a row, a new report shows by Jessica Alvarado Gamez, WBEZ Chicago