Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Policing Reform
A Moment of Simple Justice - Ferguson
In Barnes v. Felix, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that courts evaluating Fourth Amendment excessive-force claims in Section 1983 lawsuits against law enforcement officers must consider the “totality of the...more
Moore v. Oakland County, Michigan, 126 F.4th 1163 (6th Cir. 2025) - This § 1983 lawsuit was filed against a police officer after a confrontation during a traffic stop in which the plaintiff resisted compliance. Despite the...more
MAKING THE WHOLE TRUTH PUBLIC: THE FIGHT TO RELEASE BODY-WORN CAMERA FOOTAGE IN SECTION 1983 LITIGATION - Body-worn cameras were heralded as a promising innovation in the fight against crime and police misconduct. But in...more
In the plaintiffs’ lawsuits against the City, former police officer Derek Chauvin, and several additional Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers, the complaints alleged police misconduct, use of excessive force, and...more
The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 ignited a long-overdue global movement for racial justice, with communities across the United States and around the world unifying to demand change. In the immediate aftermath of...more
Guilty Verdict - Earlier this week, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. While officials had feared massive demonstrations with the possibility of violence or property...more
US Commission on Civil Rights Commissioner and WilmerHale Partner Debo Adegbile and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot discuss the US Conference of Mayors’ blueprint for improving policing and promoting equal justice in America’s...more
On May 25, 2020, police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd while arresting him for allegedly using counterfeit money. People across the country reacted to Floyd’s death with anguish. In some of the largest demonstrations this...more
Protestors across America have delivered a firm message in response to the deaths of black citizens at the hands of law enforcement: “This has to stop.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit used the same words on...more
In a decision applauded by citizens of the City of Chicago and its leadership, the Illinois Supreme Court found that a provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the Fraternal Order of Police, Chicago Lodge No....more
On June 12, 2020, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST), a division of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, amended its Compliance to Law Enforcement Standards and Practices (CLESP)...more
BB&K's Gary Schons Discusses Controversial Use-of-Force Campaign in PublicCEO - In the past week, Campaign Zero’s “#8CANTWAIT” was launched in response to George Floyd’s killing and the outcry for police reforms that...more
In a recently published opinion, the Fourth Circuit held that even if the City could not be liable under a Monell theory, its police officers were not entitled to Qualified Immunity because a reasonable jury could find that...more
The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and the unnecessary deaths of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have stirred deep emotions in our communities along with global outcry for change. Many people, including our...more
American Airlines Group Inc. stated that it plans to pledge its loyalty program “as collateral for a $4.75 billion government loan as it seeks to shore up capital to manage through the coronavirus pandemic.” The company...more
The California Supreme Court recently issued an opinion that analyzes the public disclosure of police body camera footage and demonstrates the overlap between e-Discovery processes and other records production schemes. The...more
Saying nothing about racial injustice should never have been an option. And it is not an option now. Saying I lack the right words should never have been a reason not to try to find those words. And it is not a reason now....more
California Public Records Act Provision Permitting Public Agencies to Charge for “Extraction” Analyzed - Government agencies are prohibited from charging a fee to redact police body camera footage in response to a...more
BB&K's Christine Wood Gives Updates on AB 748 and SB 1421 in PublicCEO - Now, more than ever, Californians have greater access to police personnel records, body and dashboard camera footage and other recordings acquired by...more
Across the country, police departments are moving toward greater use of individual officer body cams. The small, lightweight cameras are used to record police encounters from the officer’s perspective and can become evidence....more
The divide between law enforcement and the African-American community is a hot topic, but what happens when the two meet? In her Daily Journal article “When law enforcement and community meet,” Partner Angela Powell discusses...more
Earlier this month, Axon, the company formerly known as Taser, announced that it will offer a one year free trial of its body cameras and cloud storage to every police department in the United States. While controversy about...more
Whether justified or not, the recent spate of high-profile police shooting cases throughout the United States has brought national attention to the issue of whether law enforcement officers should be using body cameras while...more
The bill establishes a more restrictive process for obtaining video than the courts have provided for under the Right to Know Law. The Pennsylvania Senate passed a bill on October 19 that would prohibit police body...more
BB&K attorney Gary Schons examines police body cameras from a variety of angles for the California District Attorneys Association’s Prosecutor’s Brief. The use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement officials and what...more