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  Criminal Justice Blog        
                       
   

Public Interests vs. Private Plaintiffs

The is a belief among many in the community of individuals seeking reform of the criminal justice system that lawsuits brought by individuals against these criminal justice agencies are not completely in the interest of the public at large.  I am not so sure that all or even a majority of these lawsuits really are in the public’s interests. 

The City of Chicago has for at least two decades been settling lawsuits brought against the City, the Chicago Police Department, and or individuals officers before they reach trial and without an admission of guilt.  Most of these lawsuits are brought by individuals who have been abused by or had the rights violated by members of the Chicago Police Department. 

Conventional wisdom would state that policy makers would be closely monitoring these suits for evidence of inappropriate actions by members of the CPD in an effort to prohibit repeated abuses.  Clearly policy makers and accountability departments with the criminal justice agencies have paid little attention to these lawsuits. more.......

    Blog Archieve
       

Raises, Cuts, - we need data!

"Patterns and Practices" (Part 5 of 5)

Lopez's Appeal (Part 4 of 5)

A justice horror show!

The Cannon saga continues.........

Class Action (part 3 of 5

Open Letter to Mayor Daley

Civil Trial (part 2 of 5)

Illegal Detentions (part 1 of 5)

Criticism by Association and More Apples

Just a few bad apples

Who did what?  What was that name?

Innocence and truth, both without a role in the Cook County Justice System!

New curfew law results from CAPS' failures

Peter Karl's Confidentially Agreement

Special prosecutor's report to be released

Where is the justice for Riley?

Camer's - they help?  Where is the empirical evidence?

Recent Blogs  
 

Missed Opportunities for True reform!

 Great opportunities to broaden the discourse around accountability within the criminal justice system in Chicago and Cook County were recently missed.  A closer examination of these chances will unveil a more complete picture into how truly dedicated the new version of the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) will be more..........

Seperate messages.  One true agenda!

 To fully make sense of an agenda that is at the heart of the actions of an institution you first must consider all the actions of the institution that are simultaneously taking place.  In the case of the City of Chicago I am talking about how they are beating a consistent drum of openness when addressing how the new Office of Professional Standards (OPS) will be created and run;   more......

Cover up or true Separation of Power?

The Special Counsel, appointed by Presiding Criminal Court Judge Paul Biebel, authored a letter to the Criminal Justice Committee of the Cook County Board.  Edward Egan and Robert Boyle, the lawyers appointed by Judge Biebel to investigate the 20 years of allegations of torture at the hands of Chicago Police    more......

Losing CPS Students to Violence

      On December 15, 2006 there was a fight at Tap Grille located at 323 N. Jefferson St. in Chicago.  This bar fight resulted in some significant injuries to one group that was involved in the fight.  One of the wounded individuals, according to published reports, needed to have facial reconstructive surgery.  No significant injuries were recorded by the other group involved in the bar fight.  more.....

Area 2 Gun Team and Culture of Willful blindness

    On December 15, 2006 there was a fight at Tap Grille located at 323 N. Jefferson St. in Chicago.  This bar fight resulted in some significant injuries to one group that was involved in the fight.  One of the wounded individuals, according to published reports, needed to have facial reconstructive surgery.  No significant injuries were recorded  more.......

Be careful what you wish for!  

  Daley has once again outsmarted his critics by removing the Office of Professional Standards (OPS), the office that investigates civilian complaints against Chicago Police officers, from being part of the Chicago Police Department. Daley authored an ordinance that was introduced at the Chicago City Council .more.....

     

What is the real story behind Cline's resignation?

      With all the reporting many  very important clues to how the accountability systems work in the criminal justice system in Chicago have been overshadowed by a video of a single officer beating a white women I will try to   more......

Devine's scare tactics/ The mounting costs of  corruption in the ranks

     Today's blog covers the scare tactics of Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine and the mounting legal bills for the continued representation  of convicted felon ex-Chicago Police Officer Joseph Miedzianowski. more......