Oppenheimer Firm
Handing your phone to a police officer can feel like handing over your entire life. If officers scrolled through your messages after an arrest, you may be replaying that moment and wondering whether it was legal. Your phone carries privacy protections that many other...
When police officers violate your rights, you may feel unsure about what to do next. Police misconduct can take many forms. It may include excessive force, false arrest, illegal searches or unfair treatment. Learning about your rights in Illinois can help you...
Public conversations about police brutality almost always focus on the street. But behind the walls of facilities like Cook County Jail, a separate and largely invisible crisis plays out every day, one that the law takes just as seriously. Many people mistakenly...
When a Chicago police officer arrests you in retaliation for exercising your rights while lacking objective probable cause, it counts as a retaliatory arrest. This is a violation of federal law, and you can pursue accountability. Understanding why this is an offense...
Prisoners and those incarcerated pending trial rely on the state for everything from nutrition to medical care. They should receive appropriate, basic support from the state, regardless of the nature of their offense or the type of medical challenges they face....
Discussions about police brutality and excessive force by law enforcement professionals often focus on the conduct of officers chasing or arresting suspects. However, the people staffing county jails in Illinois are also technically law enforcement professionals who...
A police shooting often leaves you trying to piece together what actually happened and why officers used force. In some cases, courts or investigators may later review the facts to see whether officers acted within legal limits or crossed a line set by constitutional...
A retaliatory arrest occurs when a police officer exercises their state-sanctioned power to take you into custody as a direct "punishment" for engaging in protected speech. In Chicago, these incidents frequently manifest when a citizen records a police interaction on...
The Chicago police officer who put you in handcuffs may have lied under oath before, planted evidence in other cases or filed reports everyone knows are false. If that officer appears on a Brady List, prosecutors must tell you but sometimes fail to do so. That single...
The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment to convicted individuals. This includes deliberate indifference of a prison official to an inmate’s serious medical need. Many Illinois correctional facilities struggle with staffing shortages, budget...
