The Crimes We Don’t Talk About: Gendered Police Violence with Rachel LaPointe
When we talk about police violence, the conversation almost always centers on force, shootings, chokeholds, excessive force during arrests. Rarely do we talk about a different, quieter form of abuse of power: sexual misconduct by officers against the very people they’re sworn to protect. This week, we sat down with Rachel LaPointe, a social worker […]
Six Minutes, One Paragraph, Four Denials: How Chicago’s Department of Law “Responded” to Our FOIA Requests
Last month, we told you about a new set of FOIA requests we filed with the Chicago Department of Law, seeking records on how the City tracks, analyzes, and pays for litigation involving the Chicago Police Department. We asked for internal litigation analyses, the databases and systems the City uses to manage CPD lawsuits, records […]
Beyond Curfews: DC Councilmember Zachary Parker on Youth Gatherings
In this week’s episode, we sit down with DC Councilmember Zachary Parker, who represents Ward 5, for a conversation about one of the most contentious local issues of the moment: youth gatherings, and what — if anything — cities should do about them. The Debate Behind the Headlines Large groups of teenagers gathering downtown, at […]
The Conviction Integrity Unit Under Eileen O’Neill Burke: A New Direction, Fewer Exonerations?
On this episode of the Chicago Justice Podcast, we sit down with Injustice Watch Senior Reporter Dan Hinkel to examine the dramatic shift taking place inside the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) under State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke. For years, Cook County has been at the center of the national conversation […]
Turner’s Outdoorsman, Crime Guns, and What the Data Reveals | Ft The Trace’s Aaron Mendelson
New reporting from The Trace has shed light on an important question in the gun violence prevention space: Why are firearms sold by certain retailers showing up in criminal investigations at disproportionately high rates? In this week’s episode, we take a deep dive into data connecting California-based firearm retailer Turner’s Outdoorsman to a higher-than-expected number […]
Chicag Office of Comptroller – Litigation Costs FOIAs
The Chicago Justice Project has filed a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Chicago Department of Finance’s Office of the Comptroller as part of our ongoing effort to understand the full financial costs of litigation involving the Chicago Police Department (CPD). This filing is one of four coordinated FOIA requests submitted to […]
Chicago Department of Law – CPD Litigation Cost FOIAs
The Chicago Justice Project has filed a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Chicago Department of Law as part of a broader effort to understand how much the City of Chicago spends on litigation, settlements, judgments, and related legal costs stemming from the Chicago Police Department (CPD). This filing is one of […]
Chicago Department of Finance Risk Management Division
The Chicago Justice Project has filed a new series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the City of Chicago as part of an ongoing effort to better understand how much taxpayer money is spent on litigation, settlements, judgments, and risk management related to the Chicago Police Department (CPD). This week, we submitted the […]
The Right to Know Under Threat? California’s AB 1821 Explained with Sean McMorris
California’s public records law is designed to give residents access to government information, but proposed changes to Assembly Bill 1821 (AB 1821) could significantly reshape how that access works in practice. In this episode, we sit down with Sean McMorris, Transparency, Ethics & Accountability Program Manager at California Common Cause, to discuss the ongoing debate […]
The NYPD’s Secretive Community Response Team: Misconduct, Power, and Accountability
What happens when a police unit operates outside traditional oversight and is staffed by officers with troubling disciplinary histories? In this episode, we take a deep dive into the New York Police Department’s Community Response Team (CRT), a controversial unit that has drawn scrutiny for its aggressive tactics, alleged constitutional violations, and lack of accountability. […]