Illinois Justice Project News Summary

May 12 - 18, 2020

COVID-19 - COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY
May 18 - Injustice Watch by John Seasly: "State’s Attorney has contested vast majority of bond motions since COVID-19" . . . "An analysis by Sarah Staudt, a senior policy analyst at the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, using data from both the public defender’s office and the state’s attorney’s office, also found that state’s attorneys have opposed release 70 to 80 percent of the time during the pandemic. 'In the past, State’s Attorney Foxx has been an outspoken critic of the overuse of pretrial incarceration, but her office’s decisions during this pandemic do not reflect the same serious commitment to reduce over-incarceration and promote justice in Chicago,' Staudt wrote."


COVID-19 - COOK COUNTY JAIL
May 12 - Chicago Sun-Times: "Sheriff Tom Dart appealing court order addressing coronavirus outbreak at jail" . . . "Dart, who has defended his handling of the outbreak in the last few months, said the class action lawsuit seeking the release or transfer of elderly and medically compromised detainees has negatively effected jail operations." . . . "In a statement Tuesday, Alexa Van Brunt, an attorney for the detainees, said she was confident the injunction would be affirmed on appeal. 'We also find it unfortunate that the Sheriff is spending limited resources on fighting the injunction, rather than taking care to comply with the order, which is designed to protect detainees’ lives,' Van Brunt added."

May 13 - Associated Press: "Common’s #WeMatterToo push urges jail releases amid virus" . . . "In Common’s hometown of Chicago, where the Cook County Jail is one of the nation’s largest jails, a federal judge last month ordered officials to ensure social distancing among the 4,000 people in custody. As of Tuesday, 161 inmates and 81 correctional officers were positive for COVID-19, according to the sheriff’s department. Many more inmates have tested positive but recovered. Seven inmates who have tested positive have died."

May 16 - Chicago Sun-Times: "‘Steady decrease’ in coronavirus cases at Cook County Jail, officials say" . . . "The rate of positive COVID-19 tests has gone from 97% to less than 10% since March, Cook County Health officials said in a statement."

May 18 - The New Yorker: "Will the Coronavirus Make Us Rethink Mass Incarceration?" . . . " In Chicago, the Cook County Jail, which is fighting a judge’s social-distancing order, has now recorded nine hundred cases among detainees and staff, and ten deaths. "


COVID-19 - COOK COUNTY JUVENILE TEMPORARY DETENTION CENTER 
May 15 - Chicago Sun-Times: "7 more workers at Juvenile Detention Center contract COVID-19"


COVID-19 - ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
May 12 - Injustice Watch by Jonah Newman: "Stateville prison reopens decrepit ‘F-House’ to hold inmates with COVID-19" . . . "Jamal Bakr was transferred to F-House last Wednesday, though he had tested negative for COVID-19, his wife Donna Bakr told Injustice Watch. While talking to her on the phone on Monday, Jamal Bakr said he could see the same officers who he has come in contact with interacting with men who he knew had tested positive, according to Donna Bakr."

May 18 - WLPO-AM/FM, LaSalle: "Additional Employee Tests Positive For Coronavirus At Sheridan Prison"


COVID-19 - GOVERNOR PRITZKER
May 14 - Columbia Chronicle commentary by Margaret Smith: "Pritzker’s release of inmates during pandemic is headline bait" . . . "While news outlets around the state ran headlines centering on violent criminals being released back into society, most neglected to mention many of these individuals had already served their court-ordered sentences. Though many may believe their safety is in danger because of this, they are no more at risk now than they are any other day."


COVID-19 - VIOLENCE
May 15 - Chicago Tribune: "COVID-19 hitting hardest in Chicago ZIP codes already struggling with deadly threat of gun violence"

May 15 - New York Times: "Domestic Violence Calls Mount as Restrictions Linger: ‘No One Can Leave’" . . . "In Chicago, the number of people seeking help has increased significantly in recent weeks. During the first week of March, 383 people called a domestic violence hotline in the city. By the end of April, the weekly number had soared to 549."


COVID-19 - COURTS
May 14 - Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism: "Reimagining Law: Judge Alicia N. Washington, Tenth Judicial Circuit" . . . "In this episode of Reimagining Law, we talk to Judge Alicia Washington of the Tenth Judicial Circuit in Peoria, Illinois. Judge Washington discusses how the Tenth is delivering remote appearances and hearings, what leaders should consider before reopening courthouses, and how COVID-19 could transform court services in the future."


COVID-19 - AROUND THE STATE
May 18 - Daily Herald: "'I am not going to be anybody's boogeyman': DuPage sheriff says county is ready to reopen" . . . "DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick has joined a chorus of suburban law enforcement officials who say they won't enforce Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order as a criminal offense."

May 18 - Quad-City Times: "The federal government has taken the prison at Thomson, Ill., off a list of quarantine sites where new prisoners are sent to be monitored for their health. Thomson was one of 11 such sites designated by the federal Bureau of Prisons."


RESTORE, REINVEST AND RENEW (R-3)
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority: "Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) Announces $31.5 Million in Grant Opportunities to Support the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) Program"


ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Injustice Watch commentary by Maria Hawilo: "Stripped of dignity: appeals court to weigh mass strip search at women’s prison" . . . "There is no magic line between a visual body cavity inspection and a physical body cavity inspection. And the en banc 7th Circuit should say so. And it should once again 'discharge its duty to protect constitutional rights,' and resume its role as the enforcer of the Constitution."


CHICAGO POLICE
WBEZ by Patrick Smith: "Could Self-Care And Breathing Techniques Help Veteran Chicago Police Officers Reform The Department?"

Chicago Tribune: "New Chicago police boss David Brown settles in, contemplates restarting roving units to battle crime spikes"


CHICAGO POLICE SGT.KHALIL MUHAMMAD
Chicago Sun-Times: "$2.25M settlement proposed for unarmed, developmentally disabled man shot by police"

Chicago Tribune: "$2.25 million settlement proposed in Chicago police shooting of unarmed teen with developmental disabilities"


DAVID KOSCHMAN
Chicago Sun-Times editorial: "Getting closer to the truth in the death of David Koschman"


CHICAGO FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
Chicago Tribune: "New police union President John Catanzara rode a wave of controversy to popularity with fellow officers"

Chicago Tribune column by Eric Zorn: "Chicago’s new police union chief is the wrong man for the difficult job ahead"

WTTW, Chicago Tonight: "Chicago Police Union’s New President Defends Record, Sets Sights on Contract"


AROUND THE STATE
Illinois Times: "Court lacks diversity, lawyer says" . . . "Resigns after passed over for public defender post"

Chicago Sun-Times: "The road to forgiveness; Gun-control backer’s change of heart toward son’s killers: ‘I forgive them’" . . . "When Andrew Young of Evanston was fatally shot in 1996, Stephen Young called for the ‘severest penalty’ for his son’s killers. Then, he met them. And he believes they’re sorry."

Peoria Journal Star: "Peoria sheriff: Budget cuts will hurt but not cripple department"