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Happy Friday. Early voting for the November general election kicked off yesterday in downtown Chicago. Read on for the latest stories from WTTW News.
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(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Chicago taxpayers should pay more than $260.8 million to 17 men who spent decades in prison after they were coerced into confessing to crimes by a disgraced former Chicago police detective, city lawyers recommended.
The proposed mass settlement, which still must be approved by the City Council, would more than double the number of lawsuits the city has settled alleging misconduct by former CPD detective Reynaldo Guevara, who has been accused of falsifying police reports, framing suspects and coercing witnesses, to be resolved.
It has already cost Chicago taxpayers at least $206 million to defend and settle 16 lawsuits naming Guevara, records show.
In all, 41 cases naming Guevara remain pending including the cases lawyers now say should be resolved without a trial, records show.
City lawyers did not immediately provide a breakdown of what each plaintiff would be paid as part of the mass settlement.
Some backstory:
Members of the Chicago City Council have been pressing lawyers to resolve as many cases naming Guevara, now one of the most notorious members of the Chicago Police Department, as quickly as possible.
A judge determined Guevara told “bald-faced lies” while under oath in 2017, a fact that will be presented to any future jury asked to determine whether the city should be held accountable for claims of misconduct.
Guevara has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination hundreds of times during court proceedings, refusing to answer questions about whether he falsified police reports, framed suspects or coerced witnesses into identifying criminals.
That means Chicago officials have little hope of winning any of those cases at trial. Many of the people he helped convict who have sued the city have been granted certificates of innocence by judges.
Guevara, 80, now lives in Texas and collects an annual pension of $91,000. Since Guevara retired in 2005, he has been paid approximately $1.5 million from the police pension fund.
Despite Guevara’s well-documented misconduct that sent 41 now-exonerated Chicagoans to prison for decades, any attempt to revoke his pension is sure to fail, since he was not charged with criminal wrongdoing, much less convicted, while a Chicago police officer.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget forecast anticipates setting aside $401 million in the 2027 budget to resolve lawsuits, $226 million more than in 2026.
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Sponsor Message
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Full Spectrum Education, Northeastern Illinois University’s Goodwin College of Education, and NEIU Libraries presents a distinguished lecture on the Japanese American Redress movement, Thursday, October 15th at 5:00 pm.
Hear Doctor Michael Jin examine and demonstrate how educators can develop curriculum on this significant historical topic in American history in a way that can be relevant and meaningful for today’s students.
This free event is part of the “Reckoning with Redress” exhibition, ongoing through October 31st at the Ronald Williams Library Gallery on the main campus.
To RSVP for this event, visit NEIU.edu/reckoning-redress-three-part-series
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(Department of Justice, Capitol News Illinois)
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A federal judge has not yet ruled on whether to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate possible wrongdoing by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office in the “Broadview Six” case. But the judge does intend to conduct additional fact-finding into exactly what happened in the botched prosecution.
U.S. District Judge April Perry on Thursday said she needs further answers about the conduct of prosecutors in Boutros’ office before deciding whether criminal charges could be warranted.
While federal prosecutors stressed that Boutros’ office has already instituted new trainings and widespread reforms to ensure any of the “mistakes” in this case don’t happen again, Perry said that assurance now “is not very compelling.”
“With great power comes great responsibility,” Perry said, echoing a famous line coined in the Spiderman comic book series, before quoting the 7th Circuit District Court which said, “The greater the power that defies the law, the less tolerant the court can be of defiance.”
“Training does not fix willful or intentional misconduct,” she said. “So institutional charges are necessary but not sufficient.”
Perry and federal attorneys sought to wade through what appeared to be uncharted territory in the Northern District, specifically over figuring out who could possibly investigate potential criminal misconduct within Boutros’ office and how they could go about doing so.
What to know:
Prosecutors alleged the Broadview defendants were part of a group that surrounded a government vehicle last September, “with the intent to hinder and impede” a federal agent from proceeding to the facility and “discharging the duties of his office.”
But after unsealed transcripts from the grand jury proceedings in that case revealed Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg allegedly excused skeptical grand jurors, admitted speaking with grand jurors outside of the hearings and “vouched” for the merits of the allegations against the defendants, the case fell apart and was ultimately dropped in May.
In her three-page resignation letter, which has since been made public, Mecklenburg said she was retiring “under protest” as she sought to defend herself against misconduct accusations including that she “outright lied” to the grand jury — a claim she denies.
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Visitors will be able to tour the Uptown Theatre’s auditorium during Open House Chicago, Oct. 17-18. (Courtesy Chicago Architecture Center)
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The Chicago Architecture Center has just announced the ultimate backstage pass: The long-shuttered Uptown Theatre has been added to the list of sites for Open House Chicago.
This one-time crown jewel of Chicago's movie palaces, at 4816 N. Broadway, has sat empty for decades amid multiple attempts to revive the dormant 101-year-old theater and restore it to its former gilded glory.
“The Uptown Theatre is an extraordinary piece of architecture, from its massive 4,400-seat auditorium through the ornate details throughout its three lobbies,” said Adam Rubin, senior director of public engagement at the Chicago Architecture Center, which oversees Open House Chicago. “It speaks to a time a century ago when going to the movie or a concert was to be transported into a fantastical world far from the bustling streets of Chicago.”
Now Chicagoans can catch a glimpse of that fantastical world, Oct. 17-18. Visitors will be able to not only tour the lobby but also the auditorium, which last hosted an act in 1981 (the J. Geils Band, for trivia buffs).
Other additions announced Thursday include the 99-year-old Pittsfield Building, a downtown skyscraper undergoing restoration, and the historic Monadnock Building, which at the time it was built in 1893 was the largest office building in the world.
No registration is required to take part in the free, two-day Open House festival.
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: October 2, 2002 - State Sen. Barack Obama Makes Case Against Iraq War
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On this day 24 years ago, a modest crowd rallying against a war in Iraq gathered in Chicago’s Federal Plaza — the first protest of its kind in the city. The day featured marquee speakers, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, but it was a then-unknown state senator named Barack Obama who gave the most famous speech of the day. His 926-word address railed against “a dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.” He continued that Saddam Hussein "poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that
in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.” His remarks would give him a boost when he’d eventually run for U.S. Senate and president of the United States. According to a New Republic piece from 2008, an organizer asked, “Who is this guy?” after hearing Obama’s words, turned to the person next to her and exclaimed, “He needs to be president!”
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What's the best bar in Chicago to watch the Bears? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to say:
"The Old Town Ale House, because of the comments from 'The Genius.'" — Michelle S.N.
“Not sharing my secrets…” — Pam S.
“It's Weather Mark Tavern: Right down the street from (Soldier Field), great drinks, great food, and great atmosphere.” — @Redlightmoment
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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