Following on the heels of an historic verdict in a case declaring New York City’s stop-and-frisk policies unconstitutional, the ACLU published a report in March that laid bare Chicago’s widespread, discriminatory stop-and-frisk practices. CCL joined co-counsel Antonio M. Romanucci, Martin D. Gould & Angela Kurtz with the Chicago firm Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, and Rod Gregory of the Gregory Law Firm in Jacksonville, Florida, in representing more than two dozen African-American and Hispanic male Chicago residents who filed a putative class action against the City, the Superintendent of Police, and the officers for violations of their Fourth and Fourteenth amendment rights.
The City and the Police Superintendent each separately moved to dismiss an amended complaint, attempting to litigate the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims before the defendants filed their Answer or provided the discovery the plaintiffs need to prove their claims.
CCL President Robert S. Peck and Senior Litigation Counsel Valerie M. Nannery worked with co-counsel to counter the City’s arguments that the plaintiffs do not have standing to seek equitable relief, and that the plaintiffs didn’t allege sufficient facts in the 713-paragraph Amended Complaint to show that their constitutional rights had been violated by the City’s practices and policies. In response, CCL pointed to the allegations that the incredibly widespread practice caused numerous plaintiffs to be stopped and frisked multiple times each, sometimes on the same day, without reasonable suspicion and based on their race or national origin, all while going about their daily lives, including instances where they were standing in front of their own homes. CCL argued that the allegations demonstrate a strong likelihood that the plaintiffs will again be subject to the challenged widespread policy because they cannot avoid being stopped and frisked simply by obeying the law.
The defendants’ motions will be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on December 22nd.
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