Civil Rights

The Joliet Police Department has a pattern of engaging in unreasonable force that is “not limited to any one type of force, tactic, or context” and is a violation of constitutional rights, according to a report released Thursday by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

A woman claims in a lawsuit that Joliet Public Schools District 86 officials failed to protect her son from bullying and racial harassment while he was attending M.J. Cunningham Elementary School.

Calls of “Justice for Sonya” rang through the sanctuary of a church on Chicago’s West Side on Tuesday at a rally hosted in response to the death of Sonya Massey on July 6. 

The president of Joliet Junior College will appear as the guest speaker for the 37th annual Freedom Fund Banquet held by the Joliet branch of the NAACP.

A new chapter of PFLAG Geneva/Tri-Cities has formed to promote equality and support for the local LGBTQ community. Chapter president Elaine McClure of Campton Hills said it is a national human rights organization with over 400 chapters.

After receiving a letter from an eighth grader asking questions for a research project, Civil Rights activist Edith Lee-Payne paid JFK Middle School in Plainfield a visit.

Devery Anderson will discuss his book, “Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement.” It prompted a television series streaming on Hulu.

Community organizations announce a Juneteenth event offering an indoor hour of prayer, recognition, restoration and celebration June 20. Featured speaker will be the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., civil rights activist and cousin of Emmett Till.

Rita Miller encouraged people to move forward in their thinking.