As the Illinois Appellate Court weighs arguments over the future of police discipline in Chicago, two rulings by the Chicago Police Board have been bolstered by Cook County judges.
In one case, decided last month, Cook County Judge Michael Mullen denied an effort by Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling to impose discipline on an officer, James Hunt, whom the board cleared of wrongdoing in 2023. Hunt had faced administrative charges for his role in a chaotic arrest during the riots and unrest of summer 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer.
It was the first time since 2015 that the city’s top cop filed a complaint for administrative review against the police board. Snelling said the board’s findings “are not supported by the record, are clearly erroneous, and/or are against the manifest weight of the evidence.”…