Suit seeks a judge’s oversight of police
Groups in Chicago want city to revamp federal agreement
CHICAGO — Several leading community groups filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Chicago Wednesday in a bid to bypass or scuttle a draft agreement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice that seeks to reform the nation’s second-largest police force without federal court oversight.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago argues that an overhaul of Chicago’s force in the wake of a damning civil rights report can’t work without the scrutiny of a court-appointed monitor answerable to a judge.
“Absent federal court supervision, nothing will improve,” the lawsuit says. “It is clear that federal court intervention is essential to end the historical and on-going pattern and practice of excessive force by police officers in Chicago.”
While President Donald Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has expressed skepticism about court involvement, President Barack Obama’s administration saw it as vital to successful reforms.
Wednesday’s lawsuit — which names Black Lives Matters Chicago among the plaintiffs — asks for a federal court to intervene and order sweeping reforms to end the “abusive policies and practices undergirding the alleged constitutional and state law violations.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration said this month that a draft deal negotiated by the city and the Justice Department is being reviewed in Washington. Justice Department spokesman Devin O’malle cautioned last week that “there is no agreement at this time.”
A lead attorney in the new lawsuit, Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor and outspoken advocate for far-reaching police reforms, said in a telephone interview that reports about the draft influenced the decision to sue now.
“This is the community stepping up when the government refuses to act and when it has long been clear that the city is incapable of acting on its own,” he said.
If the judge presiding over the new lawsuit sides with the community groups, the court could mandate reforms.
But Futterman said he hopes Emanuel will work with the groups to draw up a comprehensive reform plan that the court and a court-appointed monitor would oversee.
“This is a real test for the mayor as to whether he is truly committed to police reform,” Futterman said.
Before Trump’s inauguration in January, the Justice Department issued a scathing report following a yearlong investigation that found deep-rooted problems led to serious civil rights violations by Chicago police, including a tendency to use force even when suspects posed no threat.
Emanuel committed to a consent decree when the civil rights report was released and before the Trump administration made its reservations about court oversight clear.
His administration has established a new police oversight agency and adopted other practices to hold officers accountable, including fitting patrol officers with body cameras.
The Justice Department launched the investigation in 2015 after the release of dashboard camera video showing a white officer shooting a black teenager, Laquan Mcdonald, 16 times as he appeared to walk away from police holding a small, folded knife. The officer who shot the 17-year-old was charged with firstdegree murder and is awaiting trial.