A letter to Garland, sent by NAACP President Derrick Johnson, comes days before former Officer Jason Van Dyke is scheduled to be released from prison Thursday after serving less than half his state prison term of six years and nine months.

Data published Tuesday by the Chicago Police Department shows there were 182 shootings and 48 homicides last month. Those figures are down 10% and 13%, respectively, over totals from January 2021.

Sending former state Rep. Luis Arroyo pleaded guilty to one charge of wire fraud in November, and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 18. Arroyo has acknowledged that he offered a member of the Illinois Senate monthly payments of $2,500 to support a bill supported by a sweepstakes firm that hired Arroyo as a lobbyist. 

According to the Chicago Police Department, 18 people were shot in 14 separate shootings between Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Applicants will be selected by the Chicago City Council based on their records of community involvement, leadership skills and whether they have a reputation of integrity, officials said.

Former Chicago officer Jason Van Dyke is scheduled to be released from prison Thursday after serving three years behind bars. Community activists and relatives of Laquan McDonald are now calling on the federal government to take action. 

As Chicago police attempted to stop a stolen vehicle downtown Wednesday, one of the men inside allegedly fired a shot at an officer before he himself was shot multiple times by other officers, prosecutors said Friday.

In a statement released by her office to WTTW News on Friday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said a collaboration would not be possible until Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans acknowledges the courts “part in making Chicago neighborhoods less safe.”

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the state crime lab would destroy the gun, probably in April. Judge Bruce Schroeder, the Kenosha County judge who presided over Rittenhouse’s trial, approved the agreement.

A change made by state lawmakers in January 2021 to a sweeping criminal justice law removes the possibility of prosecutors charging defendants with murder in cases when a third party is responsible for the killing. But criminal justice groups are lobbying for further changes.

During a speech to the Union League Club of Chicago, Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans said he would assign five additional judges to the criminal division of the Cook County Court in an effort to ensure that cases progress from charges to resolution faster. 

In a White House ceremony marking a moment of national transition, President Joe Biden praised retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, who will have spent nearly 28 years on the high court by the time he leaves at the end of the term, as “a model public servant at a time of great division in this country.”

A Cook County judge ordered Xavier Guzman, 27, and Emilio Corripio, 16, held without bail following their arrests this week on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from 8-year-old Melissa Ortega’s killing in Little Village Jan. 22.

Over a Zoom call Thursday, Cook County Judge James Linn said Jussie Smollett, his attorneys and special prosecutors must appear in person for a March 10 hearing to handle sentencing and any post-trial motions from the defense.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown joined Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to announce charges Wednesday against a 16-year-old boy and a 27-year-old man.

Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan blasted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s public safety strategy as a complete failure on Wednesday during a speech to the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, the clearest sign yet that he may be gearing up to run for mayor of Chicago in 2023.