BY BILL JUNEAU
After a good deal of arguing and consternation, the city of Chicago has awarded $2.9 million to 51-year- old Anjanette Young, a woman of color, whose apartment was wrongfully raided by police looking to arrest a dangerous fugitive in possession of drugs and guns.
Ms Young, a social worker and recipient of a masters degree, was naked and preparing for bed when police officers barged through the front door. The officers had acted pursuant to a no-knock warrant from a Cook county judge which allowed the forcible entry.
Ms. Young screamed in fear and stood unclothed as the armed officers handcuffed her and began a search for the drug dealing fugitive. Reportedly, one officer reacted within seconds to find a blanket for the distressed naked woman who yelled over and over that the police were at the wrong address. Her fright was obvious and she was humiliated as officers saw her naked for an estimated six seconds. Clearly, she was terrified, humiliated and robbed of her dignity for those brief moments.
The indignity was exacerbated, in Mayor Lightfoot's judgment, in that some of the policemen were white, and Ms. Young is an African American.
The police had made a horrendous mistake as the wanted man was not in the apartment and the sergeant leading the raid apologized profusely to Ms. Young. Officers had relied on information from an informant whom they deemed credible. The police conduct, though obtrusive and regrettable, did not violate any law as the officers, led by a veteran sergeant, were acting in accord with regulations governing the service of warrants. Also, it was later reported, that the wanted-man had once lived in that apartment, but apparently not for years.
The raid occurred on February 21, 2019, shortly before Lightfoot was elected in a run-off election. During the following two years, controversy surrounded the incident and Lightfoot spoke of the humiliation and indignity caused Ms. Young, who like the mayor, is a woman of color. The fact that some of the police officers were white-skinned apparently weighed heavily in Lightfoot's judgement of the extreme humiliation and loss of dignity inflicted upon Ms. Young. The victim was watching an episode of "Grey's Anatomy," and preparing for bed, when raiding officers crashed their way into the apartment, shouting that they had a warrant.
There was a video of the raid which apparently depicted Ms. Young unclothed and surrounded by armed policemen. Controversy also erupted when the video was publicized 18 months later on television, and Lightfoot said that it was the first that she had heard of the raid. although she later acknowledged that her staff had advised her of a botched police raid in November of 2019.
Mark Flessner, the city's corporation counsel, recommended that Ms. Young be given $50,000 as damages for the fear and humiliation which she had suffered. Flesser said that the police broke no law and did not allow Ms. Young to linger in her naked state. A cover and a blanket was found in a few seconds and wrapped around her. He predicted that the lawsuit filed against the city would be dismissed since there was no violation by the police in carrying out the raid.
He said that $50,000 was appropriate and in keeping with such settlements where there was "no legal wrong." Word of Flessner's insistence on paying Ms. Young $50,000 reached the mayor, and an angry Lightfoot fired Flessner whom she had appointed as the corporation counsel, the city's lawyer. Lightfoot and Flessner had previously worked together as Assistant U.S. attorneys.
After his discharge, Flessner slammed Lightfoot in an OpEd and said her tenure as mayor was a "disaster" for the city. Pushing the huge settlement, said Flessner, was part of a deal she made with the National Civil Rights Movement. Organizations would donate millions to her reelection campaign, and in return she would do their bidding, as she has done in the Young case," Flessner wrote. She was "jump-starting" her campaign, he said.
He described the mayor as mercurial, petulant, rude and unprofessional. "She belittles the police, fire department and teachers...and has no respect for any of the hardworking, dedicated public servants who make this city run from day to day."
In response, Lightfoot said that Flessner has said "disparaging things related to Ms. Young." He does not value her (Young's) experience and has reacted negatively to her either because "she was a woman or a woman of color."
Last May, upon completing her second year as Chicago's first woman mayor of color, and its first lesbian chief executive, Lightfoot announced that she would limit her one-on-one interviews to only reporters "of color." The City Hall press corps is just too white, she said.
Her comments drew wide attention. Tucker Carlson of Fox News described her as a "racist and a lunatic,'' and a "dangerous bigot." Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic Congresswoman, and a presidential candidate in 2020, said that Lightfoot's racial hang-up "is abhorrent, and I call upon President Biden, Kamala Harris, and other leaders of our country—of all races—to join me in calling for her resignation."
The botched raid was indefensible, and brought stress, fright and humiliation to Ms. Young. The police and the mayor have apologized to Ms. Young and she is entitled to be compensated for the egregious mistake by the police.
Veteran attorney Flessner has more than three decades of experience as a litigator and trial attorney, and he knew that a $2.9 million award was grossly excessive, enhanced as a result of Lightfoot's judgments concerning race and her alleged promises to National Civil Rights organizations.
Ms. Young was indeed wronged, but was it $2.9 million dollars worth of indignity? That seems excessive, and Flessner's decision to settle on $50,000 seems more reasonable. It certainly doesn't seem so unreasonable that it should have cost him his job.
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