4 Star Chicagoan: Maaria Mozaffar

As a civil rights attorney, this week's 4 Star Chicagoan is helping others fight discrimination and is creating laws that bring change to local communities.

Maaria Mozaffar is a civil rights attorney, mediator and legislative consultant who works on her cases pro bono. Her mission is to show people how to take control of their lives through the legal and legislative process that our society is built on. Maaria's passion to help others started at a young age when she saw kids being bullied at school or cutting lunch lines. She told the administration they need to take action. Maaria attended U of I and failed the bar exam 5 times. She knew she was meant to be a lawyer and can solve problems, she just couldn't take multiple choice tests. From failing the bar 5 times, Maaria learned everyone is born with a certain skill set they should pursue, whether it be writing, painting or being a lawyer, and no one should tell you you're not good enough.

Maaria is the primary writer of the SMART ACT: drafted to intervene in the early stages of drug involvement and stop the cycle of drug abuse that often leads to more severe criminal activity, harsher punishments involving incarceration, and detriment to the community. Young drug offenders are not offered the option of drug school instead of an automatic prison sentence.

Maaria now mainly focuses on writing policy for legislators. She meets with community organizations and mobilizes buses of individuals to Springfield to talk to policy makers. She has worked on the travel ban, food deserts on the South Side and is currently writing a bill to ensure constitutional rights are enforced at U.S. border patrol

More on Maaria Mozaffar here: https://www.maariamozaffar.com