By now, surely many have read or heard about the release of the gruesome dashboard camera videos of Chicago Police Department officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times. But while mourning this brutal shooting, few are talking about the police cover up at the center of the story. The release… Read More
Loevy & Loevy client Brandon Smith, an independent journalist from Chicago, recently secured a major victory under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, requiring the City of Chicago to release video recordings of Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting and killing teenager Laquan McDonald. Loevy & Loevy is proud to represent journalists and citizens in… Read More
As I prepare to celebrate the holiday season, I am struck by things that I am grateful for, but which are denied to many in our communities. In particular, I am concerned with privilege as it relates to the justice system. Basic rights become privilege when our system offers the rights only to some, while… Read More
FOIA Suit Aims to End Secrecy About CPD Use of Controversial ‘Stringray’ Cell Phone Snooping Devices Chicago, IL – A court is scheduled to hear oral arguments at 11 AM, Monday, Nov. 23rd in Room 2502 of the Daley Center about whether the Chicago Police Department (CPD) should be forced to reveal information about its… Read More
With the almost constant barrage of unjustified police shootings in the news, you’d think that police training would start emphasizing how to not gun down innocent people. But if you thought that, you’d be dead wrong. Instead, the typical police training continues to stress shoot first and ask questions later. First, let’s look at the… Read More
Murder is a tragedy regardless of whether the victim is an average citizen or a police officer. But the fiction that there is some kind of “war on cops” or, worse yet, that the Black Lives Matter movement has somehow created an open season for shooting cops is both patently false and deeply problematic. The… Read More
The Justice Fellowship offers new attorneys committed to civil rights and criminal justice an unparalleled opportunity to work on trial and appellate litigation at the very beginning of their careers. Our fellows will participate in all aspects of our wrongful conviction, civil rights, and whistleblower practices. In doing so, they will be trained by experienced… Read More
November 13, 2015 – In a story date-lined 1:43 PM today, the Chicago Tribune reports that Mayor Emanuel commented on why the City of Chicago is still refusing to release police film of an officer shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald sixteen times in October 2014. The Tribune reports that Mayor Emanuel said that now is not… Read More
November 12, 2015, Chicago – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and co- counsel Loevy & Loevy announced the settlement of Professor Steven Salaita’s case against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for firing him from his tenured position over his personal tweets criticizing the Israeli government’s assault on Gaza in 2014. Professor… Read More
A person needs to be an adult to sign a legally enforceable contract. You can’t even legally commit to a gym membership until you’re 18 because the law assumes that children are too young to understand the full implications of most legal arrangements and commit themselves to a binding future. And yet, the courts… Read More
