Co-Chairs

• Justice Gino DiVito
• Governor James R. Thompson

Commissioners

• State's Attorney Anita Alvarez
• Judge Paul P. Biebel, Jr.
• State's Attorney Joseph E. Birkett
• Edwin A. Burnette
• Justice Thomas E. Callum
• Vincent Cornelius
• Senate President John J. Cullerton
• Senator Kirk Dillard
• Representative Jim Durkin
• Justice Rodolfo Garcia
• State's Attorney Robert Haida
• Attorney General Lisa Madigan
• Terri L. Mascherin
• Michael Metnick
• The Hon. Robert S. Molaro
• Appellate Defender Michael J. Pelletier
• Stephen Pugh
• Ted Street
• Judge Michael P. Toomin
• Donald R. Zoufal

Director

• Peter G. Baroni

Special Advisor

• John F. Decker

CLEAR Director

Peter G. Baroni

Mr. Baroni was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1996. He has been a partner with the law firm of Leinenweber & Baroni since 2003, and a partner with the government relations firm of Leinenweber & Baroni Consulting since 2004. He served as Legal Counsel to the Illinois Senate President, Senate Minority Leader, and Senate Judiciary Committee from 2000 to 2003. Mr. Baroni served as an Assistant State's Attorney with the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, from 1996 to 2000, leaving the office as a felony prosecutor. During law school in Washington, DC, Mr. Baroni served as an extern for the Honorable Judge Paul Friedman (United States District Court) and served as an extern at the United States Department of Justice.

Mr. Baroni received his J.D., cum laude, from Howard University School of Law in 1996 and his Bachelor of Arts from DePauw University in 1989. He was an editor on the Howard Law Journal and had a case note published. Since passing the Illinois bar, Mr. Baroni has published a number of articles on Illinois criminal law.

CLEAR Special Advisor

John F. Decker
Professor of Law (joined DePaul in 1971)

Professor Decker's extensive publications include treatises, books and articles that focus on Illinois criminal law and procedure issues. He has also published numerous law review articles focusing on the same subject matter. Professor Decker is also director of the College of Law's highly successful Field Placement Program and has worked extensively as a faculty member at continuing legal education conferences for Illinois judges. Professor Decker currently teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure.

Professor Decker has been a visiting professor at the University College Dublin (Ireland) and the University of San Francisco School of Law. He has practiced law in both California and Illinois.

Professor Decker earned his B.A. at the University of Iowa; his J.D. at Creighton; and his LL.M. and J.S.D. at New York University.

Chicago Metropolis 2020 Staff

Paula Wolff
Senior Executive

Paula Wolff is Senior Executive at Chicago Metropolis 2020. Her work emphasizes analysis and reform of the criminal justice system to reduce youth violence and inappropriate incarceration.

Wolff served between 1992-2000 as President of Governors State University, the only upper-division university in Illinois. Governors State University (GSU) serves over 9,000 undergraduate transfer or returning students and those seeking master’s degrees in the south suburban and Chicago areas.

Between 1977 and 1991, Wolff served as Director of Policy and Planning for Governor James R. Thompson. In 1990-91, she directed Governor Jim Edgar's Transition Team as she had participated in Governor James R. Thompson's in 1976-77. Prior to her appointment as GSU President, she was a Visiting Fellow at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; she also established a not-for-profit collaborative serving four pilot sites in the Chicago public schools.

Wolff has a B.A. from Smith College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in political science.

She serves on numerous boards including the Johnson Foundation, the Ariel Capital Management Board, the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Joyce Foundation Board, University of Chicago Medical Center and the University of Chicago Boards.