Mark Glennon | Wirepoints
Mark Glennon | Wirepoints
Democratic leaders in Springfield are the beneficiaries of millions in political donations from the plaintiffs’ bar, while the Republicans, in the minority in both the House and Senate, habitually receive nothing, a newly released study by the Illinois branch of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) shows.
CALA Executive Director Phil Melin said that the one-sided donations to Democratic leadership, who control the legislative agenda in the General Assembly, will almost certainly squash any attempts to stem the rash of wrongful conviction suits in Cook County brought by plaintiff lawyers on behalf of clients claiming that police and prosecutors conspired to frame them for their crimes – many of which were murders. The millions in payouts are putting an additional strain on an already strapped city of Chicago.
"At the same time that taxpayers are being forced to cover massive settlement payouts—often under questionable circumstances—Illinois legislators have failed to enact even modest safeguards to ensure fairness and transparency," Melin told Chicago City Wire. "It’s hard to ignore the influence of the powerful trial lawyer lobby, which donates millions to political campaigns while opposing reforms that would protect everyday citizens from footing the bill for litigation they had no part in causing."
The CALA report says that the plaintiff bar PAC, Illinois Lawyers Association PAC (ITLA PAC), is “a political machine that funds lawmakers who protect lawsuit-friendly policies at all costs.”
“Between Election Day 2022 and the conclusion of the 103rd General Assembly in January 2025, the ITLA PAC funneled over $1 million exclusively into Democratic political campaigns and organizations,” the report says. “Not a single dollar went to Republican candidates or committees, making it clear that ITLA PAC’s financial influence is a partisan operation designed to buy loyalty from the party in power.”
Speaker of the House Chris Welch, for instance, received $80,000 over the period. Senate President Don Harmon received $75,000 over the same period.
Mark Glennon, founder of the news site Wirepoints, noted that the ITLA donations also influence the Illinois Supreme Court.
Per Wirepoints: ITLA made the following donations to All for Justice, a committee dedicated to influencing Illinois Supreme Court races:
- $150,000 on 10/24/22
- $52,500 on 10/26/22
The wrongful conviction lawsuits stem from exonerated convicts, many convicted murderers, claiming that through coercion and fabricating evidence police and prosecutors won convictions of innocent people. Most of the wrongful conviction lawsuits have been settled before going to trial. The exonerations peaked under the eight-year tenure of former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
“Since 2000, Chicago has paid out $700 million in lawsuits to criminals, most of whom are guilty, for alleged police misconduct and lawyers representing the city got $138 million,” former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas wrote in a commentary the “Fleecing of Chicago.”
“During Kim Foxx' eight years in office, more and more Chicago law firms started specializing not only in representing perpetrators accused of committing violent crimes, but also in suing the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Alleging "civil rights" violations by police, these firms frequently win mammoth, taxpayer-funded settlements that city leaders seem all too willing to award. It is no surprise that lawyers specializing in suing police were the largest segment of donors to Clayton Harris, III, Cook County Board President and Democratic Party boss Toni Preckwinkle’s hand-picked successor to Kim Foxx.”
Alerts Sign-up