Illinois Justice Project News Summary

Oct. 29 -- Nov. 4, 2019

CPD SUPERINTENDENT EDDIE JOHNSON
WBEZ by Chip Mitchell: "Top Cop Contemplates Retiring, Insists He’s Not Worried About Probe Into Driving Incident"

Chicago Sun-Times: "CPD Supt. Johnson says he is contemplating retirement"

Chicago Tribune: "Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says he’s ‘toying with’ retirement, but says it’s unrelated to probe of him being found asleep in city car"


CHICAGO POLICE
CBS Evening News by Dave Savini: "CBS Chicago investigation finds police raided the wrong homes" . . . "A year-long investigation by CBS Chicago uncovered a disturbing pattern of wrongful police raids that often leave innocent children traumatized. Families impacted by these raids are sharing their stories. "

Chicago Tribune: "Chicago Police Department told it must overhaul the way it investigates homicides — but when and at what cost?"

Chicago Sun-Times: "Chicago Police Department to change the way it investigates murders"

Chicago Sun-Times: "Murders, shootings decreased in October compared to 2018: police" . . . "Murders and shootings reported last month in Chicago were down from October 2018, according to data collected by Chicago police."

CPD news release: "Chicago Police Department launches new data dashboard aimed at increased transparency"

WTTW: "Chicago Police Publish New Data on Civilian Complaints"

CPD news release: "Budget 2020 meeting: Superintendent Johnson shares his remarks"

Associated Press: "Judge to rule in December on the fate of ex-police officer" . . . "A Cook County judge says he will rule in December on the fate of a former Chicago police officer accused of murder in the 2017 death of a man. Prosecutors say Lowell Houser, then an off-duty Chicago Police Department officer, shot to death of 38-year-old Jose Nieves during an argument outside an apartment complex where the victim lived. The then 58-year-old Houser claims he acted in self-defense, saying Nieves made a threatening move."

Chicago Tribune: "Chicago police sergeant saves a life during downtown run, proposes to another officer"


CHICAGO MAYOR
Chicago Tribune: "Mayor Lori Lightfoot fires back after President Trump rips Chicago police superintendent again, accuses him of ‘perpetrating’ a crime wave from the White House"


LEGISLATION
Chicago Tribune: "Legislation proposed to ban criminal background checks on public speakers following Tribune stories" . . . "A state lawmaker has proposed legislation that would make it illegal for law enforcement in Illinois to run criminal background checks on citizens who speak at public meetings."


GUNS
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin: "Panel warns of unintentional loop in gun-licensing process" . . . "Calling it a 'statutory merry-go-round' that only lawmakers can keep from spinning, an appeals court this week hinted that a properly argued case could render the state’s gun-licensing process unconstitutional."

WGN-TV by Thman Bradley: "The Blame Game: Who won the Lightfoot-Preckwinkle brawl over Chicago’s gun violence?" . . . "Stephanie Kollmann is policy director of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern's Law School. 'I think it is absurd to suggest in a city where nine out of 10 shootings are not associated with any arrest at all, that it’s what happens in court that is making people unsafe,' she said. 'I don’t understand how anyone can suggest that in a straight face.'"

The Trace: "Illinois Passed a Red Flag Law. A Coalition of Advocates Is Working to Ensure It’s Used." . . . "Just 41 gun seizure orders have been sought since the law was enacted in January. Campaigners hope publicity is the missing ingredient."


CANNABIS
Associated Press: "Illinois marijuana law aims to undo harm of war on the drug"


JUSSIE SMOLLET
Chicago Tribune column by Eric Zorn: "Kim Foxx fumbles yet again on Jussie Smollett, the story that just won’t go away"


COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin: "State’s attorney brings on support dog" . . . "The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on Tuesday welcomed its newest four-legged employee: a 2-year-old black Labrador retriever named Hatty."

Associated Press: "Labrador sworn in at state's attorney's office in Chicago"

Daily Mail, UK: "Hatty the black lab is sworn in to Illinois state's attorney's office"

WLS-TV: "Cook Co. State's Attorney adds comfort dog to staff for child sex assault victims"

WBBM-TV: "Cook County State's Attorney's Office Adds Comfort Dog To Staff"


COOK COUNTY SHERIFF
Chicago Tribune: "Cook County sheriff wants chief judge to take over electronic monitoring of suspects, citing the records of those released"


COOK COUNTY JUVENILE TEMPORARY DETENTION CENTER
Teamsters Local 700: "Teamsters Local 700 Conducts Unprecedented Vote at the JTDC" . . . "The vote is in and the numbers do not favor Superintendent Leonard Dixon of the Circuit Court of Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC). The symbolic measure took place on Tuesday, Oct. 29 in a clandestine manner to shield members who expressed concern for potential retaliation in attending a largely advertised 'Vote of No Confidence' within the court complex."


REENTRY
Nature: "Moving from prison to a PhD" . . . "I grew up poor in rural southern Illinois. By my mid-twenties, I had been arrested five times — mainly for drug possession. In total, I was behind bars for 1.5 years. Once I was out of prison, an uncle encouraged me to attend university."


ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Truthout commentary by Sheila A. Bedi, John A. Knight & Alan Mills: "Medical Care for Trans Women in Illinois Prisons Is Cruel and Unusual Punishment"

Illinois Public Media: "New Exhibit Challenges Beliefs About Value & Morality Of Long-Term Incarceration" . . . "A new exhibit at the University Y in Champaign takes an up-close look at what it’s like to serve an extensive prison sentence. The exhibit is called 'Free Again.' It’s a partnership with the University of Illinois’ college-in-prison program, Education Justice Project."

The Appeal: "Illinois Department of Corrections revises book ban policy"

KTHV-TV, Little Rock, Arkansas: "Arkansas artists paint 12 prisoners from around the country for the Prison Portrait Project" . . . "Layet Johnson is one of the 26 artists involved with the Prison Portrait Project. He painted Kenneth Key, who is serving a life sentence at Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois. 'If you look at images of Stateville Correctional Center, I think it's pretty clear it's a pretty terrible way to live,' he said."


ILLINOIS STATE POLICE
State Journal-Register:  "Springfield forensic analyst honored for her work" . . . "A special agent who led two homicide investigations in west central Illinois was named the Illinois State Police Officer of the Year in a ceremony Wednesday at Sangamon Auditorium on the campus of the University of Illinois Springfield."


U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE COLIN BRUCE
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette column by Jim Dey: "Urbana federal judge's email transgression still making waves"

Illinois Times by Bruce Rushton: "Drug dealer’s sentence thrown out" . . . "The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals last week tossed a cocaine dealer’s sentence, ruling that improper communications between U.S. District Court Judge Colin Bruce and former colleagues at the U.S. attorney’s office merited his removal from the case."

ABA Journal: "Federal judge's emails lead 7th Circuit to vacate prison sentence"


ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE LLOYD A. KARMEIER
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin: "Karmeier to leave bench in 2020"

Capitol News Illinois: "Justice Karmeier to resign effective December 2020"


TERRENCE HAYNES
Chicago Tribune by Stacy St. Clair and Jeff Coen: "After child witness recants two decades later, an Illinois man sues both the prosecutors and public defender involved in his murder trial" . . . "A Kankakee man has filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit against both the prosecutors and public defender involved in his murder trial after a child witness recanted decades-old testimony, and an appellate court ordered his release from prison. The suit, which was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Urbana, alleges two Kankakee County assistant state’s attorneys encouraged an 11-year-old witness — a first cousin of one of the prosecutors — to lie and tell jurors that Cezaire Murrell was unarmed when Terrence Haynes shot him in 1999."


JAILING CHILDREN UNDER 13
WBEZ By Patrick Smith: "Appeals Court Overturns Cook County Ban On Jailing 12-Year-Olds" . . . "The case was decided by a vote of 2-1. In the majority opinion, Justice Daniel Pierce wrote that “although very few minors under the age of 13” will ever face the possibility of detention, 'it is all but a certainty there will be minors under the age of 13 accused of criminal activity' for whom jail will be the only option."

Chicago Tribune: "Cook County wants to keep children under 13 from being jailed, but a state appeals court says it can’t"

Injustice Watch: "Even as Illinois court permits detaining pre-teens, across U.S. fewer youth being held" . . . "Calling “backward” the United States treatment of juveniles, Cook County Public Defender Amy Campanelli said she plans to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to reverse an Illinois Appellate Court decision last week that permits holding pre-teenagers in custody."


EXPUNGEMENT
Illinois Times by David Blanchette: "A second chance in life" . . . "More than 150 people who attended a free program in Springfield on Oct. 19 emerged with a possible second chance. The Expungement and Record Sealing Summit, hosted for the second year by the Sangamon County Circuit Clerk’s Office, gave pre-registered participants free, full-service assistance to get their adult criminal records possibly expunged or sealed."


AROUND THE STATE
WBBM-TV: "Wanted Man Agrees To Surrender In Kankakee County After Police Oblige PhotoShop ‘Costume’ Request" . . . "Police in Kankakee County didn’t have to stage a raid to find one wanted fugitive – it just so happens that all it took for him to surrender was a PhotoShop request."

Quad-City Times: "Rock Island County State's Attorney opts for grand jury over preliminary hearing"

WMBD-TV, Peoria: "Rep. LaHood secures $125k to prevent youth substance use in Tazewell County"

Southern Illinoisan: "900 phone calls: Herrin Police respond to nude photo Google spam" . . . " Three police officers on duty Sunday in Herrin spent their day on the phone, assisting the department’s two dispatchers to field about 900 unexpected phone calls, Deputy Police Chief Warren Blake said Monday. The cause: A graphic picture of a man in a police uniform exposing himself through his unzipped fly, which was posted to the Herrin Police Department’s Google business page."