Litigation

The MacArthur Justice Center formed a coalition of attorneys, community organizations and individuals to file a historic class action lawsuit seeking federal court oversight of the Chicago Police Department's (CPD) operations on behalf of thousands of individuals, predominately Blacks and Latinx, who have been subjected to the CPD's policy and practice of using excessive force, sometimes in racially discriminatory and brutal ways.

Alan Beaman spent over a decade in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the 1993 murder of his ex-girlfriend. The MacArthur Justice Center represents Mr. Beaman in his lawsuit against the City of Normal and the three former Normal police officers who orchestrated the wrongful conviction.

Dallas police officers kneeled on Tony Timpa’s neck for 13 minutes while he yelled, “You’re gonna kill me!” He died, handcuffed and face down, while officers joked about his mental illness. A district court granted qualified immunity to the police officers. On August 10, 2016, Tony Timpa called 911, telling the operator that he was...

A corrupt, bad faith, reckless investigation kept Tina Jimerson behind bars for 27 years for a crime she did not commit. In 1991, Ms. Jimerson was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder as a supposed accomplice in the murder of Myrtle Holmes, an elderly white woman, in the City of Fordyce on the night of September...

The MacArthur Justice Center represents the Chicagoans for an End to the Gang Database, a coalition of individuals and community organizations, in a federal class action lawsuit against the City of Chicago and Chicago Police Department (CPD) targeting the widespread use of an inaccurate, racially discriminatory Gang Database.

When Crishala Reed, a 28-year-old Black woman, received a jury summons, she was eager to go. But when she told the court that she supported the Black Lives Matter movement, it became clear that she was not going to be seated on the jury. She was questioned by the prosecutor about whether she supported rioting...

The MacArthur Justice Center is suing Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro in light of his office’s practice of gathering evidence using subpoenas that do not have the required advance approval of a court. The suit asks the Orleans Parish Civil District Court to order Cannizzaro to comply with a 2015 public records request for copies of district attorney...

The lawsuit states that the City’s history of unlawful refusals became more widespread following the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent citywide protests over police brutality and racism.

On December 28, 2017, 28-year-old Andrew Thomas Finch, a father of two, was shot and killed on his front porch by Wichita police. Andrew was unarmed. The police were at his house because of a 911 call that turned out to be a prank. Officer Justin Rapp shot and killed Andrew less than 10 seconds...

  In denying Weeks’ request, SLMPD has claimed that the records requested have been digitized and are now under the control of the Regional Justice Information Services Commission (REJIS), which provides IT support for the City and a number of law enforcement agencies across the state. REJIS argues that the information cannot be released without...