Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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Friday, April 26
An alert reader informed GB of an interesting case heading to the federal courts. In most other big cities, there is a very "demanding, specific, and rationally related basis for investigation", but not so in Chicago. The ACLU of Illinois and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) filed a petition requesting information about the infiltration by Chicago Police of the AFSC's planning meetings back in 2002. What was the outrageous purpose of these meetings? To stage a peaceful demonstration at a major international business conference. Even an internal audit by the police department found insufficient basis for such activities, and the ACLU wants to know why documents have been destoyed regarding this case. (Thanks, Mitchell!)