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Chicago Tribune
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Paul Vallas: Chicago must reform how it handles expensive police misconduct lawsuits.
The city's finances and ability to fund essential public services are at a crisis point for many reasons. Dangerously overlooked is the bleeding of millions of taxpayer dollars every month on litigation, the continuation of which cannot be sustained. From 2008 to 2024, Chicago paid out over $1.11 billion in police-related legal settlements and verdicts. In 2025 alone, the city has already approved over $145 million in police settlements, exceeding its budget by a significant margin. It has gotten so bad that the most obvious way for the city to manage risk — the purchase of liability insurance — is rapidly becoming unavailable as the city's insurers, once willing to protect the city from catastrophic losses, have run for the hills. These hundreds of millions in payouts are emblematic of a system in which settlements for police-related incidents have become routine and increasingly expensive. During Kim Foxx's tenure as Cook County state's attorney, more law firms began to specialize in representing individuals accused of violent crimes and in suing the Chicago Police Department for alleged civil rights violations. These firms frequently win enormous, taxpayer-funded settlements. Consider the cases of Gabriel Solache and Arturo DeLeon-Reyes, who were wrongfully convicted of the brutal murder of a young couple and kidnapping of their child. Despite a third perpetrator's unwavering testimony against them, Foxx dropped the charges partially because their cases were handled by a former detective, Reynaldo Guevara, who faces allegations that he bullied and beat defendants. The third perpetrator is in prison serving a life sentence. Foxx's office later withdrew opposition to their certificates of innocence, enabling their lawyers to use these certificates as evidence in lawsuits against the police. This is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern in which convictions are vacated and substantial settlements follow — even when the facts strongly suggest guilt. The election of Judge Eileen O'Neill Burke as state's attorney marked a new era for criminal justice in Chicago. However, the city still faces a backlog of cases initiated during Foxx's tenure, with over 200 wrongful conviction lawsuits pending. The potential liability from these cases is estimated in the billions of dollars. Compounding the problem, the SAFE-T Act and the CPD consent decree have introduced new mandates and oversight requirements, which are likely to fuel even more litigation. In addition, police pursuits have now become the new gold vein for litigators to mine. These developments, combined with a plaintiff-friendly legal environment in Cook County, mean that the city's exposure to massive settlements is only increasing. Police pursuit lawsuits are now a significant financial threat after wrongful conviction cases. These lawsuits often arise when fleeing suspects crash, causing injuries or deaths, and the city is held liable for the actions of police officers making split-second decisions. Since 2019, Chicago taxpayers have paid more than $120 million to resolve just 31 civil claims arising from police pursuits. Here are five key reforms that can be implemented: Runaway settlements and verdicts for alleged police misconduct are not only undermining public safety and police morale — they also are threatening the city's financial stability and its ability to provide essential services. Chicago's leaders must act decisively to restore balance, protect taxpayer dollars and ensure that compensation for genuine victims does not come at the cost of the city's future. Paul Vallas is an adviser for the Illinois Policy Institute. He ran against Brandon Johnson for Chicago mayor in 2023 and was previously budget director for the city and CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Jussie Smollett "comforted that there will be at least one winner" after settling Chicago lawsuit
Former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett spoke out for the first time on Friday since settling a civil lawsuit filed against him by the city of Chicago, agreeing to make a donation to charity, rather than continue a years-long court battle. Smollett said "I'm comforted that there will be at least one winner from this experience." In a letter signed by Smollett, he said that instead of paying the city of Chicago, the scene of an alleged 2019 hate crime hoax, he is donating $60,000 to organizations "of his choosing." In 2021, Smollett was convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct for falsely claiming he was the victim of a hate crime near his Streeterville apartment in 2019. Smollett claimed two masked men shouted homophobic and racial slurs at him while they poured bleach and hung a noose around his neck. Police and prosecutors later said his claims were a hoax. Last year, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned his conviction, noting it did not weigh in on the facts of the case, but rather finding that Smollett's constitutional rights were violated when charges were brought against him for a second time, after former Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office had dropped the original charges. "It was not a decision on what we call on the merits. It was basically a constitutional technicality, if there is such a thing," CBS News Chicago legal analyst Irv Miller said. Smollett had still been fighting a civil case with the city of Chicago separate from the criminal case that was overturned. "This was a resolution that was necessary to happen, because both sides needed a way to get out of this case, saving face and minimizing the damages that's going to come out of their pocket. And they figured out a way to do it. Very creative," Miller said. In its lawsuit, the city had been seeking to force Smollett to reimburse the city more than $130,000 to cover the police overtime costs associated with investigating the alleged hate crime attack. As part of the settlement agreement with the city, Smollett agreed instead to donate $50,000 to Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts, based in Lawndale. Separate from the settlement, he also donated $10,000 to the Chicago Torture Justice Center. "We treat survivors of trauma, and that includes torture. It includes people who have been physically assaulted and abused," said Chicago Torture Justice Center executive director Aislinn Pulley. Pulley works to address trauma associated with police violence. "We're honored and delighted to accept a donation from Jussie. He is someone who has experienced some of the most horrific parts of the legal system, and we work with survivors of that legal system," she said. Smollett added in his letter that this case has "left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear." A spokesperson for the city's Law Department said, "The City believes this settlement provides a fair, constructive, and conclusive resolution, allowing all the parties to close this six-year-old chapter and move forward."
