Why voters are calling for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to be recalled

The ruling was another blow to the city and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who along with the Police Department have been trying to regain the trust of residents in the wake of the Laquan McDonald police shooting video.

Senior Corporation Counsel Jordan Marsh resigned Monday hours after a federal judge issued a harshly worded ruling that raised questions about whether the notorious “code of silence” in the Chicago Police Department extends to the city’s Department of Law run by Patton, Emanuel’s only corporation counsel. U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang’s opinion dealt with Marsh’s work on a lawsuit brought against the city by the family of a black man fatally shot by police in 2011.

Marsh submitted his resignation on Monday, the city’s Law Department said. The measure comes at a time when the Second City is reeling with protests and investigations over the police shooting of seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald and the subsequent delay in releasing the police tape showing his death.

Emanuel made the statement after a federal judge accused a city attorney of hiding evidence in a lawsuit over a fatal 2011 police shooting.

In May, the city of Cleveland agreed to comprehensive changes to its police force after a US Department of Justice investigation that was launched when officers shot two unarmed black men 137 times in 2012. According to The Guardian and The Washington Post, almost 1,000 people died at the hands of police in 2015 in the U.S.

Officers Raoul Mosqueda and Gildardo Sierra claimed Pinex was pulled over because his auto fit the description of a suspect involved in a shooting. At first, he portrayed the officer charged with murder in the case, Jason Van Dyke, as a bad apple who didn’t represent more widespread problems in the police department.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says a federal civil rights investigation of the Chicago police should be expanded to include the city’s law department. And the mayor gave a vote of confidence to his top attorney, saying Stephen Patton would ensure the city’s legal team is operating “at the highest level that the public should expect”. Chang also imposed sanctions against the city and Marsh, ordering that the attorney’s fees be used to pay the plaintiffs. But records emerged after the trial began that officers weren’t listening to the channel broadcasting the radio traffic about the suspect’s vehicle.

Surely what Chicago needs right now is yet another scandal related to a police killing of a citizen. But attorneys for people who have accused the police department of wrongdoing allege that the case shows the city plays a role in covering up for police misconduct.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the tactic would be used to improve the system through “training, policy guidance and equipment, to be more effective, to partner with civilians and to strengthen public safety”. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed last week by the father of LeGrier.