Blair Paddock
@blairpaddock.bsky.social
đ¤ 840
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prisons + investigations for
@wttw.bsky.social
pinned post!
In January, my partner, friends and I will be opening up a cultural club in an old bank in Bridgeport: the Mouse Arts and Letters Club. We'll host News Night, a citywide newsroom, screenings, translation + ecology events & more. We'd love you to join us. Sign up for updates:
mouseartsandletters.org
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Mouse Arts and Letters Club
https://mouseartsandletters.org/
about 2 months ago
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Isaac Chotiner
3 days ago
New Interview:
www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
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8 days ago
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shawn
11 days ago
NEW: beginning january 1, chicago will ban unhoused people on the sex offense registry from seeking shelter on public transit. itâs the latest in a concerted effort by mayor johnsonâs admin to criminalize homelessness on cta trains + buses and in public parks during the coldest months of the year.
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âAn impossible situationâ - Chicago Reader
Beginning January 1, the City of Chicago will ban unhoused people on the sex offense registry from seeking shelter on public transit.
https://chicagoreader.com/news/reader-investigative-reports/sex-offense-registry-cta-cpd-homeless/
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Jared Rutecki
21 days ago
State regulators cited Roseland Community Hospital with an âimmediate jeopardyâ warning after a suicidal patient left the ER without supervision. His case is part of a troubling pattern tied to deaths and neglect. Investigation by
@ndblumberg.bsky.social
.
news.wttw.com/2025/12/16/r...
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Roseland Hospital Failed to Monitor a Patient During a Mental Health Crisis, Regulators Say. Now Heâs Charged With Killing His Wife
Since 2023, Roseland Community Hospital has received at least four immediate jeopardy citations. That warning is the most serious deficiency a health care facility can be cited for, according to feder...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/12/16/roseland-hospital-failed-monitor-patient-during-mental-health-crisis-regulators-say-now
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For Those Interested in Sandhill Crane Migration at the Jasper-Pulaski Stopover Point in Indiana: the numbers are much lower compared to last year. Note the gap between Dec. 9 2025 from years prior.
22 days ago
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When Illinois closed its prison in Dwight more than a decade ago, the transfer to Logan CC left incarcerated women traumatized. Now, as the state pitches to close Logan, the largest womenâs prison in IL, advocates want to ensure that history is not repeated.
news.wttw.com/2025/12/09/a...
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Advocates Ask Pritzker, IDOC to Endorse Transfer Plan for Women at Logan Prison
In March 2024, Gov. JB Pritzker announced the closure and rebuild of both Stateville and Logan correctional centers, allocating $900 million for the projects. The decision came after a state-commissio...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/12/09/advocates-ask-pritzker-idoc-endorse-transfer-plan-women-logan-prison
28 days ago
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Heather Cherone
29 days ago
2017: Officer shoots teen in the back of their shoulder June 2021: Shooting ruled unjustified Sept. 2021: Top cop disagrees Nov. 2021: Police Board president orders full hearing 2019-24: 4 lawsuits naming officer settled for $590K June 2025: Officer promoted to sergeant Nov. 2025: Charges dropped
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Want to help us build a new cultural club in Chicago? Consider being a member here:
mouseartsandletters.org/membership-1
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Jared Rutecki
about 2 months ago
A Mauritanian man will testify Monday about torture he says he endured at GuantĂĄnamo Bayâat the hands of former Chicago detective Richard Zuley. His story is one thread in a web connecting Zuley to the post-9/11 legacy through this city. đ
news.wttw.com/2025/11/20/m...
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Man Who Said He Was Tortured by Ex-CPD Detective at Guantanamo Bay Set to Testify
Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Davis is weighing whether to overturn the conviction of Anthony Garrett in connection with the murder of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis, who was shot and killed by a sniper at ...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/11/20/man-who-said-he-was-tortured-ex-cpd-detective-guantanamo-bay-set-testify-judge-weighs
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Blair Paddock
ProPublica
about 2 months ago
NEW: The exodus of corrections officers from federal prisons to ICE comes amid shortages of critical supplies, from food to personal hygiene items, for both staff and inmates. It threatens to make the already grim conditions in these prisons even worse.
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As Federal Prisons Run Low on Food and Toilet Paper, Corrections Officers Leave in Droves for ICE
Many of the problems the agency is facing now are not new, but staff and prisoners fear an exodus of officers could make life behind bars even worse.
https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-bop-federal-prisons-corrections-officers?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky
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Heather Cherone
about 2 months ago
BREAKING: Chicago police officers will be allowed to file felony gun charges without first getting approval from a prosecutor throughout the city, Cook County Stateâs Attorney Eileen OâNeill Burke announced Friday.
@wttw.bsky.social
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Program Allowing CPD Officers to Directly File Felony Gun Charges to Expand Citywide, Top Prosecutor Announces
The Felony Review Bypass Pilot Program was âan unqualified success,â Cook County Stateâs Attorney Eileen OâNeill Burke said.
https://news.wttw.com/2025/11/21/program-allowing-cpd-officers-directly-file-felony-gun-charges-expand-citywide-top
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Blair Paddock
Heather Cherone
about 2 months ago
Another banger for
@wttw.bsky.social
by
@ndblumberg.bsky.social
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Ex-Aurora Mayor Backed $450K Line of Credit Without Council Approval; Nonprofit Leader Racked Up Charges at ATMs and Strip Clubs
OnLight Aurora, a city-supported nonprofit, aims to provide high speed internet to the west suburban communityâs institutions, businesses and residents. Itâs also in massive debt, with a long history ...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/11/19/ex-aurora-mayor-backed-450k-line-credit-without-council-approval-nonprofit-leader-racked
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In January, my partner, friends and I will be opening up a cultural club in an old bank in Bridgeport: the Mouse Arts and Letters Club. We'll host News Night, a citywide newsroom, screenings, translation + ecology events & more. We'd love you to join us. Sign up for updates:
mouseartsandletters.org
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Mouse Arts and Letters Club
https://mouseartsandletters.org/
about 2 months ago
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a year of news night!
about 2 months ago
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Melissa Sanchez
about 2 months ago
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants. We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the governmentâs claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
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âI Lost Everythingâ: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua âterroristsâ had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the governmentâs claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-fbi-raids-no-criminal-charges
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And Illinois State Police provides access to gang database info to DHS. In June, I found that DHS Enforcement and Removal Operations signed a data sharing agreement with ISP in *2024*.
news.wttw.com/2025/06/02/i...
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about 2 months ago
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dell cameron
about 2 months ago
NEW: DHS secretly obtained Chicago police data on 900 residents accused of gang ties. It was quietly deleted after intelligence officers violated rules against domestic spying. The handoff came well after city inspectors formally announced CPD's gang data was deeply flawed and infected w/ bias.
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DHS Kept Chicago Police Records for Months in Violation of Domestic Espionage Rules
The Department of Homeland Security collected data on Chicago residents accused of gang ties to test if police files could feed an FBI watchlist. Months passed before anyone noticed it wasnât deleted.
https://www.wired.com/story/dhs-kept-chicago-police-records-for-months-in-violation-of-domestic-espionage-rules/
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Jason Meisner
about 2 months ago
Good morning from Judge Jeffrey Cumming's courtroom, where he's considering a motion to release 100s of "Midway Blitz" arrestees on EM who were subjected to "warrantless" arrest. ICE and CBP recently produced a list of 3,300 people arrested since June
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/c...
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Federal judge appears poised to order release of at least some âOperation Midway Blitzâ arrestees
A Chicago federal judge appeared poised Friday to order at least a portion of the thousands of people detained in âOperation Midway Blitzâ released on electronic monitoring while litigaâŚ
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/chicago-operation-midway-blitz-arrestees/
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tomorrow!
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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Heather Cherone
about 2 months ago
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ProPublica
2 months ago
Legal experts called DHSâ move to use driverâs license data for citizenship checks more evidence of federal overreach. âThe administration wants to get as much data as it can, however it can, whenever it can.â With
@texastribune.org
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DHS Wants States to Hand Over Driverâs License Data for Citizenship Checks
Itâs the latest step in an unprecedented initiative to pool confidential data that the Trump administration claims will help identify noncitizens on voter rolls and tighten immigration enforcement.
https://www.propublica.org/article/dhs-citizenship-checks-drivers-license-data?utm_campaign=propublica-sprout&utm_content=1762120814&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
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Illinois Answers Project
2 months ago
When Jose Jeronimo Guardian showed up at a Spanish language traffic court this week, he didnât expect to be detained and face expulsion from a country heâd lived in for more than two decades. With
@capitolnewsil.bsky.social
:
illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/31/i...
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âThey are literally targeting people.â ICE comes to southern Illinois
CARLYLE, Ill. â When Jose Jeronimo Guardian showed up at a Spanish language traffic court this week, he didnât expect to be detained and face expulsion from a country heâd [âŚ]
https://illinoisanswers.org/2025/10/31/ice-southern-illinois/
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Heather Cherone
2 months ago
A partial list of what Bovino does not have to tell a federal judge happened today: *An agent pushed a City Council member in Albany Park *Agents deployed pepper spray in Albany Park & Evanston *Agents were involved in a car crash in Evanston *An agent pointed a gun at a woman in Evanston
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Dave Byrnes
2 months ago
New: a class action suit filed in Chicago's federal court this morning alleges overcrowding and inhumane conditions at the Broadview, IL ICE facility, as well detainees being denied legal counsel. The plaintiffs say this amounts to 1A and 5A violations.
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a year of news nights! november 13!
2 months ago
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dell cameron
2 months ago
NEW: ICE is planning to build a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractorsâturning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine. My latest
@wired.com
:
www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
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i am looking for Exciting blogs about chicago or illinois happenings (politics, ecology, art, w/e) for news night. anyone have any recommendations?
2 months ago
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Heather Cherone
2 months ago
NEW: Mayor Brandon Johnsonâs proposed budget for 2026 sets aside just $82.5M to cover the cost of resolving police misconduct lawsuits, even though the city has already agreed to spend $90M next year to resolve 176 lawsuits tied to former Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team.
@wttw.bsky.social
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Johnsonâs 2026 Budget Sets Aside Just $82.5M to Resolve Police Misconduct Lawsuits, Even Though Chicago Has Already Spent $90M
Chicago taxpayers have spent at least $267 million to resolve lawsuits alleging Chicago police officers committed a wide range of misconduct so far this year, according to an analysis of city data by ...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/10/23/johnson-s-2026-budget-sets-aside-just-825m-resolve-police-misconduct-lawsuits-even
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NEW: An Illinois lawmaker put out a call to corrections staff to contact her about incarcerated undocumented people. Months later, she gets a list purporting to be that, and hands it to Kristi Noem. But it appears to be information that DHS already had access to.
news.wttw.com/2025/10/24/i...
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Illinois Lawmaker Wants to Help Federal Immigration Officials ID Undocumented People in State Custody
In an October interview with a downstate radio station, state Sen. Terri Bryant said she gave a list of undocumented individuals currently being held in Illinois state prisons to Secretary of Homeland...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/10/24/illinois-lawmaker-wants-help-federal-immigration-officials-id-undocumented-people-state
2 months ago
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Aura Bogado
2 months ago
This brilliant little article gets at what Iâve seen but havenât yet read: Chicago locals, regardless of status, are apprehensive about venturing out to restaurants and food stalls targeted by ICE. The result is a whole sector in economic and social crisis.
www.chicagomag.com/news/we-wont...
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âWe Wonât Survive if You Donât Support Usâ
ICE presence in Chicago has hurt the local economies in immigrant communities â which could in turn put a financial strain on the city at large.
https://www.chicagomag.com/news/we-wont-survive-if-you-dont-support-us/
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NEW: I found 17 sheriffs in Illinois that have contracts to detain people for ICE through U.S. Marshals Service contracts. IL law explicitly prohibits these types of intergovernmental service agreements.
news.wttw.com/2025/10/22/d...
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Despite Illinois Sanctuary Laws, At Least 17 County Sheriffs Have Contracts to Hold People in ICE Custody
To ascertain if county jails are complying with the stateâs TRUST Act, WTTW News sent Freedom of Information Act requests to each of the 90 county jails in Illinois to obtain copies of intergovernment...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/10/22/despite-illinois-sanctuary-laws-least-17-county-sheriffs-have-contracts-hold-people-ice
3 months ago
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Adam Selzer
3 months ago
In 1861, abolitionists in Chicago claimed no âfugitive slaveâ had been arrested in Chicago in 8 years. But after Lincoln was inaugurated, the new U.S. Marshal for the territory started making arrests. The more progressive papers howled and a vigilance committee was formed: (1/)
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TONIGHT!
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3 months ago
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Dave Byrnes
3 months ago
For the last five years, people being released from Cook County Jail have gotten out later and later at night. In 2021, ~14% of people got out between 11 pm and 3 am. In 2024, ~40% of all releases took place in those wee hours. My latest, for
@chicagoreader.com
chicagoreader.com/news/cook-co...
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Released from jail late at night
Over the last five years, the number of people released from the Cook County jail late at night has steadily increased.
https://chicagoreader.com/news/cook-county-jail-releases-late-night/
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NEWS NIGHT on October 16
3 months ago
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South Side Weekly
3 months ago
NEW: In the weeks leading up to a massive ICE raid at a South Shore apartment building, neighbors saw drones surveilling the area, and teachers at a nearby school regularly saw agents in the neighborhood. âď¸ Jose Abonce for the Weekly and Maira Khwaja for
@invisible.institute
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Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children
Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.
https://southsideweekly.com/federal-agents-storm-south-shore-building-detaining-families-and-children/
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Blair Paddock
Chicago Sun-Times
3 months ago
Body-camera video appears to contradict the governmentâs claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
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Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.
https://trib.al/9Sxu9IN
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Blair Paddock
Heather Cherone
3 months ago
Tune in ... now to see
@brandisfriedman.bsky.social
interview
@mayorofchicago.bsky.social
đLIVEđ on
@wttw.bsky.social
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Blair Paddock
Amy Qin
3 months ago
Thereâs no medical staff or services at Broadview. No food preparation. No beds. Thatâs all by design because the facility was created for holds less than 12 hours.
@bylaurenfitz.bsky.social
@adrianacardmag.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
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Blair Paddock
unraveled
3 months ago
This comes after CBP/ICE, assisted by large number of FBI and other feds, orchestrated a large raid on an apartment building late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. Immigrant rights orgs estimate at least *forty people*, including children and infants, were taken from their beds in South Shore:
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Feds detain dozens of immigrants in 'massive' South Shore apartment building raid in Chicago ⢠The TRiiBE
An estimated 40 people were taken by federal agents in the course of the overnight raid in the predominately-Black neighborhood.
https://thetriibe.com/2025/09/feds-detain-dozens-of-immigrants-in-massive-south-shore-apartment-building-raid-in-chicago/
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Blair Paddock
Injustice Watch
3 months ago
NEW from
@injusticewatch.org
and
@boltsmag.org
: Cook County has more documented wrongful convictions than any county in the nation. In the last 10 months, Stateâs Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke has weakened her officeâs main system for freeing innocent people.
buff.ly/ysPtaYG
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Cook Countyâs new prosecutor has weakened an already broken system for freeing the innocent
Stateâs Attorney Eileen OâNeill Burkeâs Conviction Integrity Unit hasnât exonerated anyone in her 10 months on the job, and she has done little to confront more than a dozen coercion allegationsâŚ
https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/denying-innocence/2025/eileen-oneill-burke-conviction-integrity-unit-wrongful-convictions/
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Blair Paddock
Heather Cherone
3 months ago
âNoemi Chavez and her two children are now confined to a room at OâHare International Airport, awaiting transfer to a detention facility in Texas before deportation to Guatemala,â reports the
@chicagotribune.com
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Mother, children detained by ICE at Millennium Park Sunday held at OâHare with other families: âWe never imaginedâ
The mother said she felt her family was targeted because of their appearance. âThere were a lot more people there, but the agents came directly to us because of how we look,â she said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/29/ice-immigrant-families-ohare/
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Blair Paddock
Capitol Fax
3 months ago
AG Raoul says "We are in touch with Sheriff Grootens and weâre going to be having a conversation"
capitolfax.com/2025/09/29/w...
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NEW: The Illinois Department of Corrections will now permanently scan most physical mail sent to incarcerated people and distribute it electronically.
news.wttw.com/2025/09/29/i...
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Illinois Prisons Will Now Scan Physical Mail Sent to Incarcerated People
Beginning immediately, non-privileged mail will be opened and inspected for contraband, scanned in color, then be uploaded to an individualâs tablet, the department announced Monday. Nearly all incarc...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/09/29/illinois-prisons-will-now-scan-physical-mail-sent-incarcerated-people
3 months ago
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see ya soon!
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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NEWS NIGHT is tomorrow!
3 months ago
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Blair Paddock
Heather Cherone
3 months ago
Meet Officer Joseph Treacy, who has been named in 4 lawsuits in the past 6 years that cost taxpayers $524K, according to the analysis. $225K went to the family of a Black man shot and killed by Treacy & another officer in 2016 during a brawl that exacerbated racial tensions on the South Side.
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Jared Rutecki
4 months ago
Chicago taxpayers paid $295M to settle lawsuits tied to 272 police officers with repeated misconduct claims from 2019â2024, my latest w/
@heathercherone.bsky.social
shows. New report, only at
@wttw.bsky.social
đ
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Repeated Police Misconduct by 272 Officers Has Cost Chicago Taxpayers $295M Since 2019: Analysis
Chicago taxpayers paid $295 million between 2019 and 2024 to resolve lawsuits naming officers whose alleged misconduct led more than once to payouts, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/09/23/repeated-police-misconduct-272-officers-has-cost-chicago-taxpayers-295m-2019-analysis
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Seven current and formerly incarcerated women filed federal lawsuits over the last week alleging sexual assault, harassment and institutional retaliation at Illinoisâ primary womenâs prison, Logan Correctional Center.
news.wttw.com/2025/09/17/i...
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Incarcerated Women Allege Sexual Abuse, Retaliation at Logan Correctional Center
Seven current and formerly incarcerated women filed federal lawsuits over the last week alleging sexual assault, harassment and institutional retaliation at Illinoisâ primary womenâs prison, Logan Cor...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/09/17/incarcerated-women-allege-sexual-abuse-retaliation-logan-correctional-center
4 months ago
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NEW: Amid an ongoing debate over whether physical mail is a major entryway for illicit substances in Illinois prisons, DOC issued an emergency rule to instead scan mail. But a key legislative committee on Tuesday determined it doesnât warrant an emergency.
news.wttw.com/2025/09/16/k...
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Key Panel of Illinois Lawmakers Objects to Department of Correctionsâ Move to Scan Mail in Prisons
The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules objected to the Illinois Department of Correctionsâ emergency rule allowing facilities to electronically scan mail. The objection does not stop the departme...
https://news.wttw.com/2025/09/16/key-panel-illinois-lawmakers-objects-department-corrections-move-scan-mail-prisons
4 months ago
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