Latest News from Chicago City Wire

How a commutation of a murder sentence was accomplished 'outside the courts'

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 16, 2023

Biased media coverage, not the uncovering of new evidence, led to the 2015 commutation of the sentence of convicted murderer Tyrone Hood, attorneys for city detectives named in a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit say, and they are planning to introduce damming statements from a past associate of Hood’s attorneys to prove it.

Family photos of convicted murderers latest battleground in key wrongful conviction cases

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 14, 2023

Defense attorneys for a group of retired Chicago detectives in two key wrongful conviction cases in federal court are battling some last-minute maneuvers by plaintiffs’ attorney to introduce family photos of two convicted for the 1993 murder of college student Marshall Morgan Jr.

COPA recommendation of dismissal of police officer condemned on social media

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 13, 2023

The head of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) recently recommended the dismissal of a police officer who fired at two suspects after being shot at in the Far West Side in 2018.

New law limiting legal challenges to state laws and executive orders unconstitutional on many fronts: legal expert

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 9, 2023

Legislation that Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, signed this week that limits challenges to his and the General Assembly’s Democratic agenda to circuit courts in Cook (Chicago) and Sangamon (Springfield) Counties is in direct violation of the Illinois Constitution on at least two fronts, Jacob Heubert, President of the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center (LJC), tells Chicago City Wire.

Former police union official questions why FOP silent on constitutional authority of torture commission

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 8, 2023

A former FOP official is questioning why the union representing thousands of Chicago police officers has yet to challenge the constitutional authority of a state-level commission that has soiled the reputations of numerous former detectives and officers based on unsubstantiated allegations of police brutality.

Prominent plaintiffs’ attorney, with penchant for personal attacks, goes off on special prosecutors in wrongful conviction case

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 5, 2023

A plaintiffs’ attorney with a history of unleashing verbal assaults at prosecutors and judges recently went off on special prosecutors in an ongoing wrongful conviction case surrounding a 27-year-old double murder.

Kim Foxx’s office admits that not challenging innocence certificates for two convicted murderers does not mean the two are innocent

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 1, 2023

The Cook County State’s Attorney office (CCSAO) said it’s willing to admit in a court declaration that its non-opposition to Certificates of Innocence (COIs) for two, Gabriel Solache and Arturo DeLeon-Reyes, convicted in a 1998 double murder “did not reflect a final determination that either Petitioner Solache or Petitioner Reyes was innocent.”

Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office misses deadline to explain reversal of COI opposition

By W.J. Kennedy | May 30, 2023

A review of court documents has shown that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office failed to respond to a federal judge’s order to explain why it dropped its opposition to the awarding of COIs to two suspects convicted in a 1998 double murder.

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'You suck,' prominent plaintiff attorney tells prosecutors in profanity filled rant

By W.J. Kennedy | May 25, 2023

Jennifer Bonjean, a prominent plaintiff attorney who has represented celebrity clients and numerous others in wrongful conviction cases, told prosecutors in a profanity filled YouTube rant that “you suck,” and the only reason you won is because “90 percent of the time the judge is predisposed to rule against the defendant.”

Report calling Chicago “wrongful conviction capital of the United States” misleads, fails to address the politics, money driving the cases

By W.J. Kennedy | May 22, 2023

A WTTW report noting that Chicago accounted for more than half of the exoneration cases in the United States over 2022, many of them convicted murderers, paints a sorry picture of the Chicago Police Department

Second City Cop: 'Nobody wants this job (cop) that has half a brain'

By W.J. Kennedy | May 18, 2023

Last week’s disturbing tweet by the 16th and 17th District Chicago Police Scanner said that the city’s 25th District had eight police beats down one recent night, “meaning had no one assigned to patrol or respond to calls in the area…”

Study finds half of Chicago residents witness shootings by the age of 40

By W.J. Kennedy | May 17, 2023

The astonishing findings of a 25-year study, recently published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), showed that 50 percent of city residents witnessed a shooting by the time they reached the age of 40.

GOP public safety bills face big challenge in legislature, but future of Chicago - entire state - may depend on them

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 28, 2023

House Republicans face a herculean task of moving a package of public safety bills recently introduced in a legislature where the Democrats, who late last year approved the controversial SAFE-T Act, have a super majority in both chambers.

Free speech under assault by federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in mortgage lending case

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 27, 2023

A victory in the appeal of a lawsuit filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) alleging discrimination by a mortgage broker could result in unprecedented government restraint in speech by all in the lending business.

Foxx announcement comes as watered down charges filed; Child's tragic death charged as misdemeanor

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 26, 2023

Kim Foxx’s announcement that she will not seek a third term in 2024 came just days after her office charged two teenagers who killed a child while speeding in a stolen car with only misdemeanors.

Reliable police tool that detects gun shots could be on chopping block under new mayor

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 21, 2023

A gunshot detection software, ShotSpotter, that police rely on – and have praised --to respond more quickly to potential crime scenes may be eliminated under mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.

Head of police accountability board (COPA) deposed in FOP case charging COPA with unlawful investigations

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 19, 2023

Andrea Kersten, administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), has recently been deposed in the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #7 lawsuit against COPA, attorney Joel D’Alba, who is representing the FOP in the case, confirmed to Chicago City Wire.

Kim Foxx among the most elevated of local prosecutors backed by progressive billionaire George Soros

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 18, 2023

Of the 30 prominent prosecutors supported by liberal billionaire George Soros, Cook County’s Kim Foxx is “probably the most famous,” writes Parker Thayer of the Capital Research Center (CRC), the Washington D.C.-based government oversight group.

Arrests down, crime up trend almost certain to continue under new mayor

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 7, 2023

Arrests in Chicago have plummeted 81 percent over the past two decades, a Sun-Times analysis shows, and with the election of progressive Brandon Johnson for mayor, who early on supported defunding the police but later backed off, arrests are likely to continue going one way and crime the other, say criminal justice experts.

Plaintiffs’ attorney seeks removal of special prosecutors who challenged legal authority of controversial police torture and relief commission

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 5, 2023

An attorney representing a convicted murderer claiming that police forced him to confess to the crime is seeking the removal of special prosecutors in her client’s wrongful conviction case.

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