Anjanette Young’s Lawyer Won’t Be Punished For Releasing Video of Botched Raid

Keenan Saulter, the lawyer representing Anjanette Young, speaks during a press conference Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. (WTTW News)Keenan Saulter, the lawyer representing Anjanette Young, speaks during a press conference Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. (WTTW News)

A federal judge will not punish the lawyer representing Anjanette Young for releasing the video of the botched raid in February 2019 that left Young handcuffed while naked and pleading for help.

U.S. District Court Judge John Tharp Jr. ruled Friday that disciplinary action against attorney Keenan Saulter was unnecessary because the Chicago lawyer acknowledged he violated the court order — but had a “good faith basis” to believe that the video was being improperly withheld from the public by city officials.

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“While this does not excuse Mr. Saulter’s error, it does suggest that the error was not the product of an intent to willfully disregard the order but rather an error in judgment concerning the import of state law on the status of materials designated as confidential under terms of the order,” Tharp wrote.

A spokesperson for Saulter said he was “very pleased” with the decision.

“We look forward to returning our complete focus back to proceeding with Ms. Young’s case in the Circuit Court of Cook County and with our continued push for reforms in the City of Chicago,” according to the statement.

Tharp said the city’s decision to ask him not to punish Saulter also factored into his decision.

Requests for the video filed by CBS2-TV and Young under the state’s Freedom of Information Act were denied by city officials after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the city agency charged with investigating police misconduct, opened a probe of the raid.

Attorneys for the city initially asked the judge not only to punish Saulter for releasing the video to CBS2-TV, but also Young herself.

A court filing by the city argued that the city never sought to sanction Young but asked the judge to sanction Saulter because city lawyers “take very seriously our responsibility as officers of the court and were very concerned that a violation of a court order had occurred.”

The city withdrew that request as the furor over the raid grew.

After CBS2-TV obtained the video, attorneys for the city asked a judge to block the news organization from airing it, even though the First Amendment prohibits courts in nearly every situation from preventing news organizations from publishing lawfully obtained, newsworthy information.

Lightfoot said that was a mistake, and later fired the city’s top lawyer, Mark Flessner, and two other members of the Law Department for their roles in the court cases involving the video.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]


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