Two More City Law Department Officials Out Of Jobs, A Day After Corporation Counsel Resigns Amid Anjanette Young Video Controversy
CHICAGO (CBS) -- More heads have rolled at City Hall, as Chicago Deputy Corporation Counsel Caryn Jacobs and Law Department Director of Public Affairs Kathleen Fieweger are out of their jobs.
The Mayor's office late Monday afternoon confirmed that Jacobs and Fieweger "are no longer employed with the City."
The Mayor's office did not specify why Jacobs and Fieweger are out. But their departures come on the heels of the resignation of Corporation Counsel Mark Flessner in the fallout over the botched Chicago Police raid in which Anjanette Young was handcuffed while naked in her home.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she sought and accepted Flessner's resignation.
Flessner was the first city official to be ousted over the city's handling of Young's case. Lightfoot had criticized the city's Law Department for seeking to block CBS 2 from airing video footage of the wrong raid of Young's home. A federal judge denied that request, and Lightfoot has since said that it was a mistake, though she has denied knowing about the request beforehand.
"To be clear, we do not stop the publication of any news outlet from doing their job. Never should have happened, and will never happen again," Lightfoot said.
On Friday, the city's Law Department dropped a motion seeking sanctions against the attorney for Young, after CBS 2 obtained video of a police raid in which Young was handcuffed naked as police wrongly searched her home. Lightfoot called the effort by the Law Department to seek sanctions against Young's attorney "a colossal mistake."
The mayor said, had she been advised of the move beforehand, she never would have allowed the Law Department to seek sanctions.
WATCH: My Name Is Anjanette Young: A CBS 2 Special Presentation
Earlier Monday, Mayor Lightfoot also announced every officer involved in the wrong raid of Young's home has been placed on desk duty until the city's Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) concludes its investigation of the 2019 incident.
The mayor said the officers were removed from the street at the direction of Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, amid a COPA investigation that has dragged on for more than a year.
The officers stood around Young as she was naked and handcuffed in her own living room - repeatedly telling the officers they were in the wrong home.
"I want to take this moment to once again commend CBS 2 for their efforts in this matter," Mayor Lightfoot said Monday. "However, as I've said before, while admirable, the media should not be doing our job for us."
Aislinn Pulley is one of the cofounders of Black Lives Matter Chicago.
"Again, it's a slap in the face. They should be fired," Pulley said. "We've seen what happened. It was evident. We have the video. There is nothing that is that is left to the imagination. It's very clear what happens. They should be fired."
With regard to Flessner, Pulley said: "That attorney should have been fired. He was allowed to resign. He should have been fired for issuing sanctions against Anjanette Young for his part in preventing the release of the video."
Pulley plans on speaking at a City Council committee meeting Tuesday addressing wrong raids.
"We are demanding that home raids end; that the city immediately settle with Anjanette Young and provide her with everything that she is asking for," she said.
Mayor Lightfoot is also calling on the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to wrap up its investigation into the raid. It has taken more than a year.
"Justice delayed is justice denied, and frankly, there is no excuse that this matter has languished for a year," Mayor Lightfoot said.
WATCH: My Name Is Anjanette Young: A CBS 2 Special Presentation
CBS 2 also asked Mayor Lightfoot on Monday about the 14-page enforcement action sent to the city some four months ago by a group of lawyers involved in the Chicago Police consent decree demanding the end of wrong search warrants.
"There is, as I said, a very specific prescribed way in under the terms of the consent decree, and that is the process that we were following," Mayor Lightfoot said.
But on Monday, Craig Futterman, one of the attorneys who drafted the letter, told CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey this matter is urgent and should have been handled by now.
"We raised these issues with the city. That's why we raised them back in August, and yes, it is beyond disappointing," said Futterman, a law professor at the University of Chicago. "Doesn't even do justice to how we feel about where we are still waiting the city to respond now - not 90 days later, not even 120 days later."
The mayor was also asked Monday about when she plans on releasing the emails of when and what she knew about the Young case. Mayor Lightfoot said that should be released any day.
Also From CBS Chicago:
- New Federal COVID-19 Economic Relief Package Is A Lifeline For Many In Illinois, But Will It Arrive In Time?
- 'Just Like Not Having Christmas': South Side Woman Says USPS Won't Leave Christmas Tree She Ordered At Her Door
- Foot Chase In Hammond, Indiana Ends With Man Being Charged With Driving Drunk, Other Counts
