Rick Tulsky (co-founder) developed a sense of the power of exposing social wrongs as a young reporter at the Jackson, Ms., Clarion Ledger; and has retained his dedication to that work at The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News and the Center for Investigative Reporting. His work has received more than two dozen national awards including a Pulitzer Prize, and has been a nominated finalist in two other years. Rick is a lawyer, and has been both a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University and an Alicia Patterson fellow. He is the former president and longtime board member of the national organization Investigative Reporters and Editor. Most recently, Rick was the founding director of Medill Watchdog, a program at Northwestern University’s journalism school to undertake collaborative projects on systemic problems while mentoring students in such work.
Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams announced her intention to fire, suspend, or provide supervisory coaching for 70 department police officers this week after concluding an investigation into those officers’ social media posts.
The Courts Commission handed down a rare removal from the bench on Friday TO DuPage Judge Patrick J. O’Shea, based on its finding of a pattern of misconduct that included false statements to police and under oath, harassing women court employees, and then retaliating against them.
Philadelphia officials concluded that the Facebook posts of 191 active police officers violated department regulations after an internal affairs investigation, the city’s acting police commissioner told City Council members Tuesday. City officials, residents and activists called on the department to do more to change the culture within the Philadelphia Police Department.
Lamonte McIntyre spent 23 years in prison for a double murder before, in 2017, a court hearing established a mountain of evidence that he was wrongly convicted. But the state attorney general is not acknowledging McIntyre’s wrongful conviction, blocking McIntyre from compensation that it appeared the governor assured him would be paid.
In 2018, Matthew Coghlan became the first Cook County circuit judge to lose a retention election in 28 years, and one contributing factor was a lawsuit accusing him of framing two innocent men. In newly-filed papers, Coghlan contends he did no such thing and should be dropped from the lawsuit.
Seven Philadelphia police officers have resigned in recent days, weeks after their posts were included in the Plain View Project database of troubling Facebook posts by police officers. Among those who retired was one supervisor whose posts were highlighted by Injustice Watch.
Chicago police practice of deciding on its own –without judicial review — whether probable cause exists does not satisfy the state constitution, a majority of the Illinois Appellate Court writes, striking down the Chicago police practice of investigative alerts. In dissent, a judge contends the court has reached for an issue that it need not have reached.
Attorneys for female Illinois prisoners will ask full Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse ruling that the Fourth Amendment did not protect them from prison guards requiring them to line up, strip, and expose their vaginal and anal cavities. The ruling appears in conflict with the law in other jurisdictions.
Across the country, officials and citizens alike reacted intensely the launch of a database revealing thousands of troubling posts by law enforcement. Top prosecutors in Philadelphia and St. Louis said they are reviewing the posts, and some police groups called on departments to take action against officers whose posts were included in the database.
A review of the Facebook accounts of thousands of officers around the US — the largest database of its kind — found officers endorsing violence against Muslims, women, and criminal defendants.