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Chicago Democrats Demand CPD-DOJ Consent Decree Process Continue

February 16, 2017

Washington, DC – In a letter led by Congresswoman Robin Kelly, Members demand that the Department of Justice and Chicago Police Department continue negotiating a consent decree following January's Pattern and Practice Report.

The letter was also signed by Congressman John Conyers, Dean of the House of Representatives and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee.

"January's report showed deeply concerning unconstitutional practices. We simply cannot allow these practices to continue. A consent decree will help find solutions while addressing past wrongs; it must be pursued," said Congresswoman Robin Kelly. "As the Members of Congress representing these communities, we must push the Attorney General and his team to complete this process. This is all the more vital given the Attorney General's troubling comments and voting record on this issue."

In the letter, the Members highlight that "the heavy lifting has already been done." Failure to complete a consent decree would only waste years of work and prevent any forward progress that a DOJ/CDP partnership would achieve.

Given the Presidential transition, protecting the consent decree process is more important than ever. During past Presidential transitions, consent decrees have been scrapped or curtailed. The results were disastrous for those communities who suffered through years of continued abuses and litigation.

"We know what's happened in years past. We will not let that happen to Chicago," added Congresswoman Kelly. "We've come too far and worked too hard to fall backwards into the same bad practices that started this mess."

The Chicago members who signed the letter were Congresswomen Robin Kelly (IL-02) and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Congressmen Danny Davis (IL-07), Bobby Rush (IL-01) and Luis Gutiérrez (IL-04).

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