In this week’s edition of the Cook County Courtroom Observer, I want to highlight the work of CBS Chicago investigative journalist Dorothy Tucker. The year 2025 marks her 40th year as a reporter in Chicago. Her skill at uncovering injustice is on display in her most recent investigation. For
During her tenure as Cook County State's Attorney, Kim Foxx received criticism from the Fraternal Order of Police for policy reforms that put law enforcement under scrutiny. In a post on LinkedIn penned nine months after her departure, Foxx shared more details on the reason she chose not
It was already a quarter to three when I got to the courthouse yesterday, and I just knew the visit was going to be a waste of time. Ten days earlier, I’d ordered a file for someone who asked me to research their case. But based on my track
In July 1997, Antonio McDowell walked into Chicago’s Area 5 police station to report he had been shot. But within hours, the 21-year-old went from victim to suspect — accused of a murder and a carjacking that police and prosecutors said were committed by the same person. Nearly three decades
In a post-tenure conversation, Foxx reflects on her prosecutorial legacy, institutional resistance, and the dangers of unchecked police power. In the five months since Kim Foxx left office, Cook County has launched a pilot project that allows police to file felony gun charges in two communities on Chicago's
While often discussed in legal and ethical terms, wrongful convictions also impose considerable fiscal burdens on state and local governments says Michelle Mbekeani-Wiley former head of the Cook County State's Attorney Conviction Integrity Unit.
Residents of two police districts in Chicago may now be charged with felony gun possession without prior review by prosecutors under a pilot program that police and prosecutors say is designed to streamline the felony review process. Without seeking public input, the Felony Review Bypass Pilot Program went into effect
On behalf of the state of Maryland, Governor Wes Moore apologized to Marando Warthen a man who spent 39 years in state prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder and other charges in 1984. “There are no words that can be said or shared to tell you how sorry I
Chicago theatre houses have been home to The Pillowman, a dark comedy by British playwright Martin McDonagh that tells the fictional story of a chilling interrogation of two brothers accused of committing several recent child murders since it was first produced in the U.S. two decades ago. But this
Reverend Al Sharpton rebuked newly sworn-in President Donald Trump for his campaign promise to pardon more than 1,500 people who had been convicted of crimes, including attacking law enforcement officers, during a riot at the U.S. capitol four years ago. "How are you, Mr. Trump, on the
Illinois motorists and their passengers could be subject to search and prosecution for possession of cannabis if law enforcement officers say they detect the smell of raw cannabis during a police stop. That's what Illinois Supreme Court ruled in a December 5 opinion. The case came to the
During her eight years as top prosecutor, Kim Foxx's office vacated 248 convictions, according to a final report released on Nov. 30, Foxx's final day as Cook County State's attorney. "When I first took this seat in 2016, Chicago was widely known as