Page 13 - JULY 2016 Newsletter

It has come to the attention of the Lodge that several judges at the Leighton Criminal Court Building (located at 26th and Califor- nia) have joined the verbal assault on Chi- cago police officers. One judge in particular must consider himself a champion of this an- ti-police movement, since he has decided to provide insightful comments to the “rag” for- mally known as The Tribune. I later found out
from Illinois State FOP President Chris Southwood that not only was this same article the talk of Springfield,
but that it was also being cited by several legisla-
tors in their personal attacks on the Chicago Po-
ased judge having a bad day has decided to take it out on our members. An investigation into these allegations would yield hundreds of relevant questions: Were these police officers new on the job and not comfortable testi- fying? Were these police officers coming off a First Watch tour and testifying after being awake for 24 hours? With so many unknowns, it seems crazy that these allegations could be considered substantiated.
My fear with this new policy the CCSAO has enacted is the harm it will bring all police officers the rest of their careers. A prosecutor will see this label on our members and can potentially drop any case because of this since it “involves someone found to have zero credibility” – all based on an opinion
of one individual who happens to be a judge. This is not good.
Dan Herbert and I will be meeting with the chiefs of the Criminal and Special Prosecution Bureaus in the CCSAO and will attempt to get a grasp of this new policy. Who is going to investigate these claims of zero credibil- ity or reckless disregard for the truth? These are major allegations to label on anyone and I hope the CCSAO has the resources and means to investigate these outlandish claims.
In other health news...
The FOP hosted a health fair at the Hall on June 15 in conjunction with the medical professionals from Loyola University Health System. Fifty-nine FOP Members par- ticipated in the health fair that consisted of blood work, a hearing test and an overall physical examination. Part- nering with Loyola University Health System allows us the unique opportunity to staff a medical doctor at all health fairs. The opportunity to speak with an actual doctor at these events is not one we have had in the past, and I believe it is one example of what sets Loyola Uni- versity Health System apart.
Thanks to all who participated and please join us for the next health fair. We plan on scheduling two more health fairs by the end of this year – one in the 22nd Dis- trict and another in the 17th District.
On another note, I was recently asked by a detective I worked with in Area One about documents pertaining to healthcare for those hired after 1989. If anyone has paperwork or any information from the days of signing your life away, please give me a call at the Lodge or email me at tmcdonagh@chicagopolice.org. d
We’re all liars
THOMAS
THOMAS
MCDONAGH
MCDONAGH
lice Department. If an article like this is the talk of the town, clearly the people down in Spring- field have way too much time on their hands.
That being said, the judge in question is appoint-
ed to the bench and has taken it upon himself to pub- lically chastise our members. In fact, he stated that of- ficers have zero credibility and have shown a reckless disregard for the truth while testifying in his courtroom. Can someone making statements like these to the me- dia be considered fair and impartial? Absolutely not.
Why haven’t the other 40-or-so judges assigned to the Leighton Criminal Court Building expressed concern about similar issues with Chicago police officers testify- ing in their courtrooms?
Because there are no issues.
Unfortunately, this judge is on the bench, preaching his own agenda, because he was someone’s “guy” and was given a gift by being appointed a judge. Someone should tell this goof that just because he knew the right people doesn’t make him God the Almighty.
Not surprisingly, the Cook County State’s Attorney Office (CCSAO) has now become a part of this disdain of law enforcement orchestrated by this judge. During the past several weeks, the CCSAO has handed several Lodge members letters regarding potential Giglio/Brady material.
The Brady Rule, named for Brady v. Maryland (1963), requires prosecutors to disclose materially exculpatory evidence in the government’s possession to the defense. “Brady material,” or evidence the prosecutor is required to disclose under this rule, includes any evidence favor- able to the accused; evidence that goes toward negating a defendant’s guilt, that would reduce a defendant’s po- tential sentence or evidence going to the credibility of a witness.
The witnesses in these cases are Chicago police offi- cers that this judge has accused of lying. There has not been any investigation into these allegations, yet a bi-
Field Representative
REPORT
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2016 13