By Steve Rhodes

“Immigration officers in the United States operate under a cardinal rule: Keep your hands off Americans,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“But Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents repeatedly target U.S. citizens for deportation by mistake, making wrongful arrests based on incomplete government records, bad data and lax investigations, according to a Times review of federal lawsuits, internal ICE documents and interviews.
“Since 2012, ICE has released from its custody more than 1,480 people after investigating their citizenship claims, according to agency figures. And a Times review of Department of Justice records and interviews with immigration attorneys uncovered hundreds of additional cases in the country’s immigration courts in which people were forced to prove they are Americans and sometimes spent months or even years in detention.
“Victims include a landscaper snatched in a Home Depot parking lot in Rialto and held for days despite his son’s attempts to show agents the man’s U.S. passport; a New York resident locked up for more than three years fighting deportation efforts after a federal agent mistook his father for someone who wasn’t a U.S. citizen; and a Rhode Island housekeeper mistakenly targeted twice, resulting in her spending a night in prison the second time even though her husband had brought her U.S. passport to a court hearing.
“They and others described the panic and feeling of powerlessness that set in as agents took them into custody without explanation and ignored their claims of citizenship.”
One man was wrongly held for 1,273 days.

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Posted on April 27, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

Why is it that hard to understand? THe bears have essentially missed on top picks for a long while. Mitch will take some time- not a miss – but the mentality to get more picks is because we haven’t seen the generational player – in a generation!

— marty gangler (@beachwoodmarty) April 25, 2018

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Posted on April 26, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

“Two-and-a-half years after a Chicago police officer was indicted for murder, the public will finally have access to a complete court docket on Thursday that will shed light on what has happened in one of the city’s most high-profile criminal cases,” according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
“On Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan ordered the court clerk to create a list of all documents and orders filed in the ongoing case against Jason Van Dyke, who is charged with murder in the 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The clerk must release the list, generally known as a ‘docket sheet,’ to the public by Thursday, when the court will hold a hearing on the matter.
“Gaughan’s order comes after the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, along with seven news organizations, intervened in the case in early March to argue that the court should publicly release a docket sheet and all documents filed in the case. Despite a well-established First Amendment and common law right of public access to court documents, only a handful of the more than one hundred filings have been made available to the public. The court has not made any specific findings, as required by law, to justify keeping these documents under seal.”

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Posted on April 25, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

State Democratic leaders re-elected Michael Madigan as party chair on Monday with just one no vote. He remains Illinois’ King Democrat. He is the brand – even without Gov. Bruce Rauner’s help.
Michael J. Madigan’s Democratic Party of Illinois!
Emblazon it on coffee mugs, keychains, t-shirts and business cards. Make Democrats wear it, because they can’t deny it. He is them. They are him.
Madigan isn’t to blame for all the state’s woes, as Rauner would have all of us believe. But he isn’t a benevolent dictator, either. He’s been a cancer on this state’s politics – useful only in barring the door to an even worse governorship than we’ve already had under the current occupant.
In that role, he has led a united opposition that has kept party progressives in the fold instead of seeing them split off in panic about the disruption Rauner has brought – which was exactly what Rauner was hoping would happen. Instead, progressive-leaning legislators have backed Madigan instead of crumbling in the service of short-term relief from the crises wrought by a budget-standoff and liberation from their pharaoh.
But still, one might have hoped it was time to finally change the guard at the top of the party. After all, Madigan would still be Speaker of the House and a bulwark against Rauner’s radical agenda should the governor somehow be re-elected. What a perfect time for Illinois Democrats to heal themselves, with Rauner’s likely departure and a fresh start for all on the horizon. Revelations of Madigan’s fumbling of sexual harassment in his organization also came at just the right time, politically, in presenting an additional reason to make a change.
Illinois Democrats don’t want change, though. Not really. They like the way things are. They like having Michael Madigan on their side. The stink of his sleaziness wafting off him – and onto them – is just the price they don’t mind paying to keep Michael Madigan’s Magic Machine going.

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Posted on April 24, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

“The differences start in how the burial markers look at Oak Woods Cemetery on the city’s South Side,” the Tribune reports.
“One, a Confederate Mound, lists the names of thousands of Confederate soldiers who were captured and died at Camp Douglas in Chicago. It’s topped with a bronze statute of a Confederate infantry soldier. Farther north, a simple gravestone marks where famed African-American journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett was buried. She shares a gravestone with her husband that states, ‘Crusaders For Justice,’ under their names.
“On Sunday, two groups held simultaneous but separate ceremonies, putting a spotlight not only on the juxtaposition of the markers in the Grand Crossing cemetery but also on the contrasting opinions of the role Confederate monuments should have in modern America. Both ceremonies remained peaceful, and the opposing groups did not interact with each other Sunday morning.”

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Posted on April 23, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

For completists, there was no column on Friday.

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Posted on April 21, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

“Leading black lawmakers in Springfield say they will press to close a loophole in state law that allows suburban police to avoid administrative scrutiny after shooting people, an omission highlighted in a recent Better Government Association/WBEZ investigation,” the BGA and WBEZ report.
“‘It’s outrageous,’ said state Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, responding to the probe’s findings that not a single officer was disciplined, re-trained or fired after 113 suburban police shootings over 13 years. What’s more, no reviews for policy violations or mistakes were conducted in the vast majority of those shootings.”
I have to admit that I have not yet read this piece of what seems like stellar journalism. It’s been in my read-later app alongside so much other work I haven’t yet gotten to – because there’s too much good, important stuff to keep track of. Is this, weirdly, a golden age for Chicago journalism? I say weirdly because, well, tronc.
Also, there are notable large holes in the local media fabric, particularly when it comes to beat coverage. Real digital innovation that connects with sustainable business models is still lacking. But on the investigative front, the work we’re seeing here is awfully compelling and impactful. (I happen to believe the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois should have won that Pulitzer hands down, but that’s a different post.)

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Posted on April 19, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

I’ll be there. Will you?

Happy 420 + 1. No better band to rip you out of your Friday haze and throw back into another than OOZING WOUND. The thrashing trio has celebrated the release of all three of their Thrill Jockey records right here with us and we’ve loved em every step of the way. The Wound makes the people go insane with their simultaneously hilarious and terrifying blend of heavy riffage, crushing rhythms and piercing screams. All three original OOZERs (welcome back, Kyle!) cut their teeth in some beloved local bands (CACAW, ZATH, UNMANNED SHIP, BAD DRUGS) and they’re widely known around these parts to deliver one of the most brutal live shows in town. Get ready for the beatdown of your life.

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Posted on April 18, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

It’s not always easy for me to keep up with our Week/Weekend in Chicago Rock feature, so sometimes I fall behind. But I always catch up. So here we go, in reverse chronological order, with the new stuff – last weekend – on top.
The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Featuring: Margo Price, Front 242, Cocksure, Jinjer, Cradle of Filth, George Porter Trio, The Wood Brothers with Nicki Bluhm, Poi Dog Pondering, Willie Nile, Wyclef Jean, Candlebox, and Lullwater.

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Posted on April 17, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

“The U.S. Supreme Court has for the second time rejected an appeal by imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his convictions on corruption charges. The justices did not comment Monday in letting stand the convictions and 14-year prison term that Blagojevich is serving,” the Tribune reports.
Reminder: Trying to “sell” Obama’s Senate seat was the least of Blago’s multiple crimes. Try shaking down a children’s hospital, for example. The evidence against him was, in the words of a federal appellate court, overwhelming. He also actually got a major break when it came to sentencing. See The [Monday] Papers of April 31, 2015.

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Posted on April 16, 2018