FOI Center updates

Just added!

Chicago Police Officer Gerald Callahan's Chicago Police Board Documents.

The Chicago Police Board overruled Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline's decision to fire Officer Gerald Callahan. You can read many of the documents from the case including the charges and findings of the board in our FOI Center.

Chicago City Council Committee on Police and Fire open transcripts to the FOIA.

CJP used Illinois's Freedom of Information Act to secure a victory for openness and transparency in government. Prior to CJP's work the Committee used a contractual obligation with a court reporting service to prohibit access to transcripts of Committee Proceedings. CJP fought against this stance and obtained a judgment from the Illinois Attorney General's Office stating that private contractual obligations cannot prohibit access.

A copy of the transcript to the Committee's July 24th, 2007 hearing on the Special Prosecutor's Investigation in to torture allegations involving former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge can been downloaded from our FOI Center.

Officer William Cozzi's Police Board Documents

The Chicago Police Board over ruled Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline's Decision to fire Officer William Cozzi. Cozzi was accused and found guilty of striking a elderly man who was cuffed to a wheel chair ten times in the head with a non-police issued club. In our FOI Center PDF copies of all the public documents are available for download. Also visit our blog to read about the incident in question.

 

WELCOME TO THE CHICAGO JUSTICE PROJECT

The Chicago Justice Project, (CJP), is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to increasing public access to justice related information. Our guiding principle is that access to information is the foundation for any meaningful reform to the criminal justice system. Law enforcement agencies should be responsible to a community in their combined efforts to maintain a safe and secure environment. Community members cannot be equal partners in securing their community when their access to information is restricted.

The CJP aims to increase the public's digital access to records from the various criminal justice agencies in Chicago and Cook County. With increased access, community members and criminal justice reformers would be empowered to help improve the performance of the city's criminal justice agencies. Moreover, direct access to such information would enhance the public debate over the nature of criminal justice reform in Chicago and Cook County.

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Working to increase public access to justice-related information.