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Illinois Police Misconduct Investigative Documents Ordered Disclosed

Self-proclaimed journalist Jamie Kalven filed a motion to intervene in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action for police misconduct which subsequently settled. The motion was granted and production of the investigative documents he sought was ordered.

Diane Bond brought an action against the City of Chicago and various police officials alleging that she was procedurally subjected to sexual, physical and psychological abuse. The lawsuit settled and the court stipulated to an agreed protective order wherein the parties designated some documents as confidential. Kalven moved to intervene and review the documents under Fed.R.Civ.P., Rule 26.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, held that taxpayers are entitled to know the allegations and outcome of police misconduct investigations. The court further found that the allegations of misconduct concerned a "particularly vulnerable" group of citizens and was of "grave public concern," and that no good cause for nondisclosure was shown. The documents were ordered disclosed. See: Bond v. Utreras, U.S.D.C. (ND Ill.), Case No. 1:04-cv-02617 (July 2, 2007). This ruling is in PLN's Brief Bank.

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Related legal case

Bond v. Utreras