Illinois Deserves the Truth

Lawsuit Paved the Way for Burge's Downfall

Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge finally faces prosecution, but not for what you’d expect.  Since expired statutes of limitations prevent any charges related to torture or coercing confessions, Burge was instead indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice - crimes that occurred during the federal lawsuit that compensated four of his torture victims.

Also worth a read: this subsequent AP story about the challenges facing Burge’s other torture victims.

County Sheriff Lays Down the Law

Today Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced his department would put a freeze on foreclosure evictions.  The decision stems from the fact that too often officers find themselves needing to evict innocent renters, who are unaware their landlords are in any trouble.  He's now asking mortgage companies to provide greater notification to tenants about to be evicted.  From the Tribune,

Dart acknowledged he could be found in contempt of court for ignoring court orders, but said  he was willing to risk that to carry out "justice."

He noted that hundreds of Cook County residents each month are evicted after sheriff's deputies show up at their doors, not knowing that their landlords haven't made their mortgage payments.

"The people we're interacting with are, many times, oblivious to the financial straits their landlord might be in," Dart said. "They are the innocent victims here, and they are the ones all of us must step up for and find some way to protect."

In his release, Dart puts it more succinctly,

"We’re just not going to  evict innocent tenants. It stops today.”

Sifting through some of the commentary posted on media websites, it looks to be an unpopular decision.  If you ask me, we should applaud the sheriff.  He has done what seems unheard of: he's shirked an unjust rule in order to do the right thing.  Isn’t it refreshing to see this kind of morality?  I think we need more Tom Darts.

Heads Up if Want to Fill Up

It’s hard to believe people would try to take advantage of a devastating disaster like Hurricane Ike, but you need look no further than our home state.  Over the weekend, the office of the IL Attorney General announced they were looking into reports of price gouging at gas pumps across the state.  From the Galesburg Register-Mail in central Illinois,

"We saw prices go from $3.79 to $4.30 in eight to 10 hours," Illinois State Police District 8 spokesman Tony Halsey said. "That's just outrageous."

Prices in Galesburg jumped from $3.89 Friday night to $4.29 Saturday night.

Police patrolled central Illinois on the lookout for price spikes. There were reports of some stations charging as much as $5 to $7 a gallon, according to police, although Halsey said any station charging more than $4 a gallon would be reported to the attorney general's office for investigation.

"Everybody is panicking because of Hurricane Ike," Halsey said. "And some gas stations are taking advantage of that."

…

"State law protects consumers from the raising of prices that illegally take advantage of consumers during a natural disaster," [AG spokeswoman Robyn] Ziegler said. "The gas prices could be going up legally because of wholesale market prices, but because there has been a hurricane, we are trying to determine whether or not gouging is happening."

Madigan Strikes Another Blow to Countrywide

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan files a lawsuit today against Countrywide Financial, the nation's biggest mortgage lender.

"Unfair and deceptive advertising, marketing and sales practices were utilized to push mortgages, while hiding the real costs and risks to borrowers, including enticing borrowers with low teaser rates, low monthly payments and 'no closing cost' loans that failed to make clear and conspicuous," according to the lawsuit, which also names Countrywide Chairman and Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo as a defendant.

Among other things, Madigan wants Countrywide to pay restitution to all affected consumers who lost their homes or loans. She also asks for 90 days to review any loans that are in or near foreclosure to see if borrowers can pursue affordable options.

Madigan has long had her eye on Countrywide, even going beyond allegations of mere corruption to accuse them of racial discrimination.  This lawsuit just adds to her reputation as one of our most important consumer watchdogs.  It could also be a big deal for Illinois consumers, if it goes our way.  So far, the government hasn't done enough to aid struggling homeowners.  Let's hope the Office of the AG gets the job done for everyone who has been scammed by Mozilo's Countrywide.

Woman Claims Retaliation for Reporting Medication Errors

Here is a situation I've never come across:
Back in my home state of Iowa, an innocent woman was jailed, cited for assault of her own mother, and denied visitation rights to her mother’s nursing home for thirteen months—all on false pretenses.  She says she was falsely accused by a nursing home worker, because she complained about medication errors and poor care at the home—a home that was cited for “medication errors and problems with nursing services” just last year.

Mortgage Fraud Crackdown Hits Home

Finally, more is being done to track down mortgage insiders responsible for defrauding the public of millions.  The Justice Department just unveiled the perfectly-named Operation Malicious Mortgage, an effort which targets perpetrators of crimes as wide-ranging as bankruptcy fraud, foreclosure rescue scams, identity theft, and falsified loan applications and real estate appraisals.  Here in Illinois, authorities arrested 67.

In Chicago, authorities said the centerpiece of their investigation involved one of the largest mortgage fraud schemes ever prosecuted in federal court here.

The ring run by Bobbie L. Brown Jr. fraudulently obtained loans on some 183 homes in Illinois, Nevada and California, authorities said, and lenders lost more than $24 million.

In several instances, Brown allegedly bought homes using stolen Social Security numbers. In other cases, Brown and his co-defendants used straw purchasers to buy homes, gaining the straw purchasers' cooperation with promises of "no money down" and "cash back at closing," according to the charges.

Brown and others allegedly told the straw purchasers that they did not have to make any mortgage payments and that the homes would be rented out. Instead, federal authorities said, Brown, several co-defendants and their friends and relatives moved into the homes and didn't make payments.

"These fraudulent loan packages overstate income, they overstate assets," said Gary Shapiro, first assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago. " They had phony tax returns in them prepared by their cooperating tax accountant. The defendants supplied the down payments for these loans and falsely verified in the loan applications that the borrowers who were allegedly purchasing these homes were making the down payments."

God knows there are more than 67 of these scam artists out there, so let's hope we see more of this accountability.

Imprisoned Hero Finally Compensated

Back in 2002, Rachelle Jackson, a Chicago nurse, rescued a police officer from a burning car.  Now, six years later, Ms. Jackson has won a lawsuit against the city and the police officer for false arrest, coercive questioning, malicious prosecution, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.  How was such a hero ever treated so poorly, you ask?  Here's the story:

On November 19, 2002,    Rachelle Jackson heard twisting metal and ran to aid the occupants of a Chicago Police vehicle that had been in a car crash.    The car caught fire, but Rachelle rescued Chicago Police Officer Kelly Brogan from the car anyway. Many residents responded    to aid the officers. During the chaos, someone stole the service weapon of Officer Brogan's partner, who lay slumped over    the steering wheel unconscious. Rachelle went to the police station to be a witness.

Once there, officers subjected    Rachelle to over fifty hours of coercive and abusive interrogation, without access to a bathroom. Days later, Officer Kelly    Brogan, who Rachelle rescued, came forward with a lie that Rachelle Jackson had attempted to remove her star and steal her    gun; Rachelle claimed she pulled the officer from the burning car. After over ten months in jail, Cook County Circuit Court    Judge Schultz exonerated Rachelle of wrongdoing, just as the federal jury did yesterday. The eyewitnesses, except for Officer    Brogan, all corroborated Rachelle's story.

Finally this officer faces accountability.  We applaud Ms. Jackson for her heroic efforts.  Read her story in the Tribune.

Madigan Receives A+ On Housing Protection

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was one of six AGs given high marks for their work on helping consumers avoid home foreclosure.

In a report released Tuesday, Acorn gave Ms. Madigan an A+ for her work in helping cash-strapped Illinois homeowners hang onto their houses. She was commended for pushing passage of the Illinois Homeownership Preservation Act in 2007 and for investigating whether Countrywide Homes Loans Inc. and Wells Fargo Financial Illinois Inc. violated fair lending and civil rights laws.

We congratulate Ms. Madigan and her office.  Keep up the good work!

A case of bed bugs at Fox News

Cross posted from The Pop Tort by John Guyette

I always knew there was something gross and/or strange about Fox News but just couldn't place my finger on it.  Was it the one-sided story telling masquerading as real journalism? Perhaps it was Bill O'Reilly getting all hot and bothered and blowing up at a guest?  Or maybe it was just that guy Colmes?  Though all gross and strange in their own way, none compare to recent news of a Fox News employee who filed suit after being bitten by bed bugs in Fox New's Manhattan office building. That's right bed bugs.  From the story:

Jane Clark, 37, a 12-year veteran of Fox News, a unit of News Corp, said she complained to human resources after being bitten three times between October 2007 and April 2008. She said she was ridiculed and the office was not treated for months. (Keep reading)

While some might call a bed bug infestation a fitting tribute to some of Fox's on-air personalities, poor Jane Clark.  After all, I wonder if Bill O'Reilly had complained of bed bug bites in the office on three occasions, would he be treated with the same disregard? Probably not.  We all remember his bleeped-ridden freak out from when he was at Inside Edition.  If you don't remember, here's a refresher.

R. Kelly trial underscores importance of civil justice system

Opening arguments in the R. Kelly child pornography case began today in Chicago.  This is the first time Kelly has faced criminal charges of this nature, but it's not the first time he has seen legal trouble.  Over the years, no less than four women used the civil justice system to seek compensation for being coerced and manipulated into sex with Kelly as minors (view the Sun-Times R. Kelly timeline).  Kelly allegedly settled with a fifth woman before she could file a lawsuit. 

This criminal trial is already a headline-grabber, but it's easy to forget that it was the civil justice system that first held Kelly accountable and provided his victims with a sense of justice.