Nothing. Zip. A scuffle, that's about it. But Loevy and Loevy are playing this one for all it's worth:
- A federal lawsuit filed today claims a Chicago police officer was caught on tape punching a man who questioned the use of force against his neighbors in 2009.
The complaint alleges LaMonte Simmons' constitutional rights were violated on Aug. 3, 2009 when he was stopped from engaging in First Amendment-protected speech and assembly. It also claims the officers retaliated against Simmons, 22, by battering him, arresting him and causing him to be charged with crimes all without probable cause to do so.
The suit names the police officer who is accused of punching Simmons in the face, several other officers and the City of Chicago as defendants.
There's a video at the attached link, but for the life of us, we can't see anything aside from the arrest at long distance. We see the police pointing out someone, most likely the loud mouth in question, and most likely the one yelling abuse and attempting to rile up the crowd. The officers approach to diffuse the situation and then....the camera conveniently jogs around at the moment the arrest begins. The jagoff probably took a swing at the officers and went to jail.
But the lawyers have obviously been holding onto this one until the last moment of the statute of limitations, hoping against hope that someone in power would somehow manage to screw up the outside counsel contract that is producing record wins and millions of dollars in savings from frivolous lawsuits involving the police.
And their prayers were answered in the form of Rahm Emanuel shutting down the outside counsel program and directing everything back to the understaffed, incompetent and ill-prepared Corporation Counsel's office. Be prepared to see lurid headlines again, insane payouts and the specter of punitive damages coloring everything the Department does once again.
But the lawyers have obviously been holding onto this one until the last moment of the statute of limitations, hoping against hope that someone in power would somehow manage to screw up the outside counsel contract that is producing record wins and millions of dollars in savings from frivolous lawsuits involving the police.
And their prayers were answered in the form of Rahm Emanuel shutting down the outside counsel program and directing everything back to the understaffed, incompetent and ill-prepared Corporation Counsel's office. Be prepared to see lurid headlines again, insane payouts and the specter of punitive damages coloring everything the Department does once again.