Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project Files Amicus Brief in Police Misconduct Record Case
On Tuesday, March 17, oral arguments began at the Illinois Supreme Court in The City of Chicago vs. Fraternal Order of Police, Chicago Lodge, No. 7. At issue is the possibility of hundreds of thousands of Chicago police misconduct records being destroyed. In an interview with CBS Chicago earlier this year, Prof. Craig Futterman, the director of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project, explained:
“What’s terrifying is that what’s at risk – and not to be Chicken Little here – is that hundreds of thousands of thousands of records – of police misconduct records – can go up on smoke,” Futterman said, “and that means forever. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing Chicago Police officers, is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to allow them to destroy all police misconduct records older than five years.
“And it couldn’t come at a worse time,” Futterman said.
Read the brief filed by the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project.