W.J. Kennedy Stories | Chicago City Wire

In defiance of Mayor Johnson, City Council gives ShotSpotter hope of new life

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 4, 2024

On Monday, the Chicago City Council Committee on Police and Fire approved an ordinance that would keep ShotSpotter, a proven life-saving gunshot detection technology, in wards that choose it.

Crimes statistics undermine racism narrative in policing

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 2, 2024

A recently published pie chart breaking down crime according to race undermines the recurring narrative in the media that Chicago police unfairly target Blacks.

Illinois Supreme Court ruling on police torture blow to plaintiffs’ lawyers

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 22, 2024

A little noticed Illinois Supreme Court ruling is a setback for plaintiffs’ firms representing clients who claim police torture in wrongful conviction lawsuits

Cops clear another hurdle to arbitration for serious disciplinary cases, with a condition

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 22, 2024

A Cook County judge ruled Thursday that rank-and-file city police can choose independent arbitration over the Chicago Police Board

City Council shells out $5.5 million in yet another wrongful conviction settlement

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 20, 2024

Ricardo Rodriquez, charged with a 2019 home invasion a year after Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx vacated his murder conviction, is now a millionaire.

Medium 6df3c362 59d1 472a 8d2d 325928eae407 1280x853

National watchdog group targets State's Attorney Kim Foxx underling in document probe

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 19, 2024

Judicial Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative watchdog group, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office seeking email records and all documents pertaining to the exoneration of convicted offenders.

Top Cook County prosecutor running for judge handicapped with poor colleague evaluations, association with State's Attorney Kim Foxx

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 19, 2024

Kim Foxx’s second in command, Risa Lanier, is running for judge in the 19th Subcircuit, despite being saddled with negative recommendations from area bar associations.

Cook County greenlights hurry-up $17 million settlement for convicted cop killer

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 15, 2024

On Thursday, Cook County commissioners approved a $17 million payout for convicted cop killer Jackie Wilson stemming from the wrongful conviction lawsuit Wilson filed in federal court in June 2021.

Expect the exoneration frenzy in Cook County to continue under Clayton Harris

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 14, 2024

Whether Foxx's legacy will continue will be determined in next Tuesday's primary when Harris faces Eileen O'Neill Burke in the Democratic primary.

Convicted cop killer Jackie Wilson reaches civil settlement with Cook County

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 7, 2024

Jackie Wilson, twice convicted for his role in the 1982 murder of two Chicago police officers

Chicago Police likely one step closer to arbitration, judge’s ruling expected later this month

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 7, 2024

A Cook County judge last week denied the Chicago police union's request to extend a freeze on disciplinary cases before the Chicago Police Board.

Former Tribune reporter speaking at DePaul wrongful conviction symposium once skewered by prosectors over series, reporting tactics

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 5, 2024

One of the speakers at an upcoming wrongful conviction symposium hosted by DePaul University College of Law

Study: Mayor Brandon Johnson’s neighborhood tops the list for shootings in the city

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 23, 2024

Chicago was tops in the nation for shootings in 2023.

Attorney Tim Grace: Kim Foxx’s head of post-conviction unit could qualify for the State’s Attorney’s “weaponized” do-not-call witness list

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 23, 2024

The head of Kim Foxx’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU), Michelle Mbekeani, should be placed on her bosses' do-not-call witness list for lying to a judge, prominent Chicago defense attorney Tim Grace told Chicago City Wire.

Chicago School Board expected to remove all police officers from city schools in Thursday vote

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 21, 2024

On Thursday, the Chicago Board of Education is expected to follow Mayor Brandon Johnson’s recommendation.

City's contract with lifesaving technology, ShotSpotter, extended through Democratic National Convention in August

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 21, 2024

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the company that invented ShotSpotter, the gunshot detection technology the city has deployed since 2012, have agreed to a deal that keeps the technology functioning in the city through September, meaning that it will be in use for the Democratic National Convention in August.

Pattern emerges of private detectives pressuring witnesses to change testimony in wrongful conviction cases

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 16, 2024

The latest instance in what appears to be a pattern of private detectives pressuring witnesses to change their testimony in wrongful conviction cases

Chicago police "investigative stop" protocol has similarities to NYC’s "How Many Stops Act"

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 15, 2024

On January 30, New York City Council approved the law despite Mayor Eric Adams' veto.

Law school's wrongful conviction symposium will host advocates, not critics, on what’s driving multi-million-dollar lawsuits

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 8, 2024

The lineup of speakers at an upcoming wrongful conviction symposium hosted by the DePaul University College of Law consists purely of advocates for the incarcerated who claim that police and prosecutors framed, coerced, and in some cases tortured them into confessing to crimes they did not commit.

State's attorney Kim Foxx ready to release long overdue documents surrounding controversial exonerations

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 1, 2024

Under the pressure of a lawsuit for violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Foxx’s office has agreed to comply with the law.

Chicago City Wire

W.J. Kennedy News