Illinois’ Democratic attorney general and a court-appointed monitor are among those warning Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that his administration’s proposed cuts to police resources may land the in litigation.
During a status hearing last week, monitor Maggie Hickey told Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer that cuts to the Chicago Police Department's (CPD’s) Constitutional Policing division could "could be a devastating blow to the future of CPD reforms" under a legally-mandated consent decree, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
State Attorney General Kwame Raoul separately warned Johnson that adopting cuts proposed in his new budget would place Chicago "at significant risk of being held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the consent decree," Fox reports.
In 2017, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, then-Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and then-Illinois Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan entered into the consent decree after the Justice Department reportedly found evidence of systemic civil rights violations within CPD.