Commentary
‘I didn’t envision being released in a pandemic’
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Curtis Ferdinand dreamt of freedom for 24 years. But he never imagined getting out of prison at a time like this, amid a public health crisis and unrest.
Commentary
Stripped of dignity: appeals court to weigh mass strip search at women’s prison
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Illinois appeals court should affirm incarcerated peoples’ right to privacy in their own bodies, says Loyola law professor Maria Hawilo.
Commentary
Open letter to Chicago’s top cop: COVID-19 police ‘surge’ terrorizing West Side black communities
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Organizer Richard Wallace says the police department is using force to make black residents follow stay-at-home orders, “regardless of the circumstance.”
Commentary
Federal Court intervenes as the humanitarian crisis in Cook County Jail grows
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The federal judge’s order didn’t go as far as some civil rights advocates had hoped. The ongoing work of pushing for structural change to the criminal justice system must continue.
Commentary
Chicago’s top lawyer defends vigorous, but losing, defense in Wrice civil case
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In response to commentary that the City of Chicago wrongly contested torture of a series of victims by members of disgraced-commander Jon Burge’s crew, the city’s top lawyer writes: “The Department of Law stands with due process and the rule of law. And it stands by its defense against Mr. Wrice’s claims.”
Commentary
Illinois must show compassion when coronavirus hits our elderly prison population
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Advocates for incarcerated people are calling on Illinois correctional officials to protect the state’s older prison population from COVID-19 disease.
Commentary
The Stanley Wrice Jury Returns
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Civil rights lawyer Flint Taylor questions why the Lightfoot administration has hired lawyers who aggressively challenge in court the credibility of defendants’ contentions they were tortured into confessing by members of the crew of former Chicago police commander Jon Burge.
Commentary
Lightfoot administration defending Burge torture henchmen
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The City of Chicago is spending heavily to oppose Stanley Wrice’s claim for damages based on evidence he was tortured by members of the crew of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. Attorney Flint Taylor questions what Mayor Lori Lighfoot’s administration is up to.
Commentary
It’s obvious who killed Paola Rodriguez — and Kane County has it wrong
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A decade ago, a gang member Tony Rosalez was convicted of an Elgin drive-by murder after two other gang members gave statements to police that Rosalez had pulled the trigger. Both have now recanted and said Rosalez is innocent, leaving Rob Warden to question what Rosalez is still doing behind bars.
Commentary
Alvarez off the hook for libel — by the skin of her teeth
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Rob Warden writes that though he opposes the idea of defamation suits, he can’t help taking pleasure in the Illinois Appellate Court this week reinstating a libel suit by a private investigator who contends that he was falsely accused of misconduct in the course of a high-profile exoneration.