“I don’t even think it’s close,” said Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Wadas during the 2.5 hour long criminal trial of a former youth jail employee accused of throwing a 15-year-old handcuffed boy to the ground, leaving him unconscious. www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

NEW: On Friday, a judge found a former Cook County youth jail employee not guilty on charges related to an incident that left a boy unconscious. The verdict highlights the challenges of holding detention center staff accountable for alleged abuse, advocates say. buff.ly/Isrf22P

Kevin Walker was acquitted on charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct today. In handing down the verdict, Judge Kenneth Wadas said the state didn’t meet its burden. Story tk.

Update: Due to a scheduling issue, trial was postponed to tomorrow at 10 am. Keep checking back for updates. @injusticewatch.org

In Illinois, juvenile detention centers are exempt from FOIA meaning the public can't access employee disciplinary records, confinement data, and policy manuals. As my editor @jonahshai.bsky.social once put it, it's much harder to get information about the youth jail than it is about the adult jail

NEW: For decades, allegations of abuse and misconduct have swirled around Chicago’s juvenile detention center. On Thursday, a Cook County judge will begin proceedings in a rare trial of a former employee accused of physically harming a child at the facility.

A former employee of the Cook County juvenile detention center is facing charges after allegedly throwing a handcuffed 15-year-old boy to the ground, causing the youth to lose consciousness and suffer “visible bruising.” His criminal trial starts tomorrow. www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

This is from a video on X, showing inside the Broadview ICE facility when Noem was in town on Fri. For context, she's in the central room with 15 workstations setup to process detained individuals, whether they were arrested by immigration enforcement or at protests. See the orange triangles?

Those 34 years would have been 26 years if the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit had cleared Francisco Benitez instead of denying him in 2015. He's one of at least 21 people the group rejected who were later exonerated. You can read about it in my @injusticewatch.org series Denying Innocence.

The Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Advisory Board meeting (so many words...) is underway at 69 W. Washington. On the agenda: updates on plans to "reimagine" the facility. I'll be live-tweeting so make sure to follow along 👇 @injusticewatch.org

Bumping again--I'm back full time starting today. Am especially interested in hearing from unhoused people and advocates in Chicago who have been impacted by ICE and the now-looming National Guard deployment in our city. Signal is katie.507.

Gregory Bovino, commander-at-large of the U.S. #BorderPatrol, claims a @wbez.org/@chicago.suntimes.com report about his comments Sunday in downtown #Chicago was "grossly inaccurate" and taken out of context. So we've posted the interview's unedited AUDIO and TRANSCRIPT: www.wbez.org/immigration/...

Today I spoke with Greg Bovino, a top U.S. Border Patrol chief, as he led dozens of feds in military gear through downtown Chicago. He said they were arresting folks based on “how they look.” “How do they look compared to, say, you?” he said, referring to me. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

🎧 Reporter Kelly Garcia is a guest on the latest episode of City Cast Chicago, discussing her investigation of the head of Cook County’s juvenile detention center and the results of Cook County’s chief judge election. buff.ly/Rixw9wX

After her hearing at 26 Federal Plaza, a woman was detained and escorted toward the stairwell. Her husband, confused and in shock, was guided toward the exit. Minutes later, he broke down in the elevator. They entered together, but he left alone. This happens here daily. #ICE

I know there's a lot of news today, but in my neck of the woods, this is BIG news. Cook County hasn't had a new chief judge since Sept. 11, 2001 (yes, really). The chief judge might be the most consequential local public official you've probably never heard of. @mdoukmas.bsky.social with the story.

This will have strong political implications for the Cook County juvenile detention center, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Chief Judge. The current superintendent was appointed by Evans in 2015 and, to the bewilderment of many, kept around despite persistent concerns about his leadership.

BEAKING NEWS: COOK COUNTY HAS A NEW CHIEF JUDGE - Charles Beach

I'm on the 17th floor of the Daley Center where Cook County's circuit judges are gathering for the secret conclave style election of their Chief Judge. As one irate litigant just commented, coming out hot from a nearby hearing: "It's a goofy ass fucking place!" Follow along for updates!

Reporter Kelly Garcia is attending the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Advisory Board meeting this afternoon. Follow along 🧵

Last month, the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Advisory Board released their annual report including recommendations to eliminate harmful practices and "strengthen oversight, transparency and accountability mechanisms." They'll be meeting later today and I plan to follow along... see below 👇

NEW from @injusticewatch.org: There's an election this week for Cook County Chief Judge, one of the most powerful local elected officials. The rub? The only people who can vote are other judges. @mdoukmas.bsky.social previews what's at stake in the race: www.injusticewatch.org/judges/court...

ICYMI: The head of Cook County's long-troubled juvenile jail is rarely seen at the facility and lives in Michigan, according to property tax and voting records reviewed by @kellygarcia.bsky.social for @injusticewatch.org. www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

An intriguing new one from @kellygarcia.bsky.social

NEW: @kellygarcia.bsky.social found numerous records linking Leonard Dixon, who has run the Cook County juvenile jail since 2015, to a suburb of Detroit, where he claims a "principal residence" property tax exemption and has voted consistently since 2012. He also owns several properties in Florida.

Ok @kellygarcia.bsky.social is back on the "DOES THIS COOK COUNTY OFFICIAL EVEN LIVE IN COOK COUNTY?!" beat www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

19 people say they were sexually assaulted under Leonard Dixon – a Chicago superintendent who draws a $280,000 yearly salary and whose public records trail, including voting records, ties him to suburban Detroit. Amazing work here by @kellygarcia.bsky.social: www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

Leonard Dixon runs one of the largest youth jails in the country, but records and interviews suggest he might not live in Chicago and is rarely seen at the facility. Here’s what I found in my latest investigation for @injusticewatch.org www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

Some of y’all noticed I’ve been uncharacteristically offline. This is why, and I remain on leave for a few weeks to handle a PTSD relapse. CJR was dogged in its pursuit of my story. Because of what I do and who I am, I felt that I had to answer their questions honestly. www.cjr.org/feature-2/we...

Federal immigration policy hits incredibly hard on local communities. I’m thrilled to announce I'm joining @injusticewatch.org, where I’ll investigate the hidden machinery of the Chicago Immigration Court and examine how immigrants interact with Cook County courts.

Self-deportation fliers with a Department of Homeland Security logo were posted all over Chicago’s immigration court.

When you have the chance, please read this informative essay by @austinkocher.com on the Mahmoud Khalil deportation case. ⬇️ And, many thanks to Austin for including "Threat of Dissent" in his essay's thoughtful synthesis & excellent analysis of the case. austinkocher.substack.com/p/your-intro...

Ideological exclusion was a major part of immigration law in the late 19th century and for a large portion of the 20th century. While what happened over the weekend is clearly worrying and a major escalation against free speech, it's worth remembering that the legal grounds are not at all new.

For those not aware, ICE has always been able to arrest, detain, and deport lawful permanent residents who (usually through a criminal conviction). They are not immune from deportation. Thousands lose their status every year. What's so outrageous about this incident is the targeting due to speech.

UPDATE: US greencard holder Mahmoud Khalil is being held at the Jena/LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana. He was detained from his home in New York on Saturday night and for over 24 hours, his location was not known to his wife and attorneys.

Up until last week, Samuel Cole was one of 19 judges in Chicago's immigration court. In a letter to his colleagues announcing his resignation, he lamented on the rewarding job he once had. "I hope that one day we will have the independence that this job requires." Great piece from @motherjones.com

Again, the Secretary of State has no authority to “revoke” green cards.

The general process (because of course there are exceptions) is that DHS has to file a Notice to Appear (a bit like an indictment) in immigration court, alleging that the person is removable for having violated a specific provision of immigration law. ICE bears the burden of proving removability.

25 hours after Mahmoud Khalil was detained in a Columbia-owned apartment building — Khalil’s whereabouts are still unknown & Columbia has still not commented

it took a year and a half but my first reader cover story is finally out! it's a deep dive into how the cook county sheriff's office worked with the university of chicago to build a web of surveillance for people one electronic monitors. but there's so much more. strap in. 🧵

Like many of my colleagues, I've taken a 6 month, 20 percent pay cut to try & save Reader jobs. I'm raising $1000 to keep us going, and wrote a short piece at the link below about why: can you help? @chicagoreader.com donorbox.org/save-the-chi...

If you're looking for a good reason to give some money to @chicagoreader.com consider this thought from arts editor (and my bestie) Kerry Cardoza: Give here: donorbox.org/save-the-chi...

Some news: A few hours after I filed the draft to this story, CNN laid me off. As part of a massive restructuring/changes across the network, my role as climate writer was among the 200 that got cut last week. It’s disappointing, but I’ll be okay. My last day is on Feb 21. A thread.🧵 1/

BREAKING, via The Seattle Times: Trump's executive order to restrict birthright citizenship is blocked for at least the next two weeks by a Reagan appointee in Seattle who eviscerated the Trump lawyers present defending the order. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

The Israelis have already shot dead a child in Gaza. A sniper shot him dead in Rafah and then proceeded to shoot at a man who tried to drag the child's corpse away. I saw the video. 3 Palestinians have so far been killed, and 9 injured - since the 'ceasefire'. www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

I’m a formerly undocumented immigrant in a mixed-status family. I’m also an investigative reporter. These remarks are terrifying. There will be many projects to work on and stories in tell in the coming years but today it feels nothing less than devastating to me that I’m currently unemployed.

The CBP One app was developed and released by the *Trump Admin* is October 2020. The Biden Admin attempted to improve its functionality--although it continued to work poorly--and used it to create actual pathways for asylum seekers.

Thankful the Reader gives me space to talk to Chicagoans who do critical work in music but aren’t pop stars. If this is the kind of music journalism you appreciate, consider donating to the Reader today. We are facing a terrible budget crisis and need your help to survive chicagoreader.com/donate