The MacArthur Justice Center is committed to holding government officials accountable when they violate the law. Across the country, we are at the helm of litigation that has brought misconduct to light and sought to vindicate the rights of those who have been harmed by it.
Key Cases
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Chicagoans for an End to the Gang Database v. City of Chicago
Police Abuse
The MacArthur Justice Center represents the Chicagoans for an End to the Gang Database, a coalition of individuals and community organizations, in a federal class action lawsuit against the City of Chicago and Chicago Police Department (CPD) targeting the widespread use of an inaccurate, racially discriminatory Gang Database.
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Campbell v. City of Chicago
Police Abuse
The MacArthur Justice Center formed a coalition of attorneys, community organizations and individuals to file a historic class action lawsuit seeking federal court oversight of the Chicago Police Department's (CPD) operations on behalf of thousands of individuals, predominately Blacks and Latinx, who have been subjected to the CPD's policy and practice of using excessive force, sometimes in racially discriminatory and brutal ways.
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Dotson v. McCartney
Police Abuse
The Louisiana State Police (LSP) provides foot patrols in the French Quarter through an agreement with the City of New Orleans. But LSP does not consider itself bound by the terms of the consent decree in the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the New Orleans Police Department. The MacArthur Justice Center is litigating a...
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Johnson v. United States (U.S. Supreme Court)
Police Abuse
In this case, the en banc Seventh held, over the dissent of three judges, that a mere parking infraction justifies a pretextual search. The dissenting judges warned that the decision gives police the power to seize people for “parking while black” and that “the police tactics here would never be tolerated in more affluent neighborhoods.” The MacArthur Justice Center is challenging the decision in the United States Supreme Court.
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Kisela v. Hughes (U.S. Supreme Court)
Police Abuse
A police corporal shot Amy Hughes while Ms. Hughes stood in her front yard. There was evidence in the case that at the moment the corporal shot Ms. Hughes, she was standing stationary in her yard, five to six feet away from her friend, that the two women were conversing, and that Hughes appeared calm...
Key Facts
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Use of Force
1 in 5 Americans interacts with law enforcement yearly. Of those encounters, 1 million result in use of force. And if you’re Black, you are 2-4 times more likely to have force used than if you are White. -
1,003 Shot in 2019
1,003 people were shot and killed by police in the last year. -
Blacks 2x More Likely to Be Killed
Nationwide, Black Americans have the highest risk for being killed by police - more than twice the rate of white Americans, despite being on 13% of the population. -
$426 Million
In Chicago, between 2011 - 2018, the City paid $426 million in police abuse cases.