The Chicago City Council is scheduled to vote July 22 on a proposed settlement in Green v. Chicago Police Department. Under this agreement, the city would pay $500,000 to Charles Green, whose request for public records that might clear his name was ignored by CPD.
In 1985, at age 16, Green was convicted in a quadruple murder. He has maintained that his confession was coerced. He was released in 2009, but his conviction was not overturned. In 2015, he filed suit to obtain the records.
In January, Cook County Circuit Judge Alison Conlon found that CPD had “willfully and intentionally” violated the Freedom of Information Act. She ordered CPD to produce the records by the end of the year. (You can read the judge’s order here.) The proposed settlement would relieve the city of that obligation, at the expense of taxpayers.
BGA Policy Director Marie C. Dillon submitted written testimony to the City Council opposing the agreement. Her testimony is shared below.
