Case: Dunn v. City of Chicago
1:04-cv-06804 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Filed Date: Oct. 21, 2004
Closed Date: Sept. 29, 2014
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
On October 21, 2004, a group of former Chicago Police Department (“CPD”) detainees filed this class action lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the CPD. Represented by the Chicago civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy, the plaintiffs alleged that the CPD were engaged in an unconstitutional pattern and practice of detaining persons under its control for excessive periods of time and under poor conditions. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the CPD routinely and secretly detained suspects in police station interrogation rooms for lengthy periods of time, up to 48 hours without sleep or food, in attempts to develop legal grounds for detaining them. These unlawful detentions, the plaintiffs alleged, amounted to physical and psychological "soft torture" and produced scores of false confessions. The plaintiffs sought monetary damages and class certification.
On June 13, 2005, the plaintiffs moved for certification of three separate classes: (1) those subjected to interrogation room detentions for over 16 hours; (2) those held in the department lock-up and deprived of adequate accommodations for sleep; and (3) those detained by police for over 48 hours without a probable cause hearing. Defendants objected to certification of Class I and III, but consented to certification of Class II.
On October 5, 2005, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman granted plaintiffs' motion with respect to Class II and III. Class II was defined as: "All persons held in a CPD lock-up or detective division facility between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. at any time from October 12, 2002, to the date of this order." Class III was defined as: "All persons arrested on suspicion of a felony without an arrest warrant and who were detained by the CPD in excess of 48 hours without a judicial probable cause hearing at any time from August 15, 1999, to the date of this order." Judge Gettleman denied certification as to Class I, because the claims of the only proposed representative of the first class was barred by the statute of limitations. 231 F.R.D. 367 (N.D.Ill. Oct 05, 2005). The plaintiffs later added a new representative for Class I and renewed their motion to certify this class. Judge Gettleman granted the motion on June 2, 2006.
While the certification issues were being resolved by the court, the parties engaged in substantial discovery. Many disputes arose, causing the parties to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier over 20 times. The CPD was ordered to produce, among other materials, computerized arrest data and a sampling of 3,000 paper arrest records. The plaintiffs used the arrest data to create a database which would be used to identify the members of the various classes.
Judge Schenkier held a series of settlement conferences beginning on September 21, 2006 and continuing over the next year. On October 6, 2010, the Court gave final approval of the negotiated class action settlement. The defendants were required to fund a settlement fund of up to $16.5 million to pay settlement class members. The agreement specified the following awards for each class:
• Members of Class I (detained for longer than 16 hours) were eligible for an award of up to $2,000;
• Members of Class II (detained overnight without adequate accommodations for sleep) were eligible for an award of up to $90; and
• Members of Class III (detained for longer than 48 hours without a probable cause hearing) were eligible for an award of up to $3,000.
The defendants were also required to pay for all costs related to the claims administration for the settlement. The agreement also allowed for an attorneys' fee award not to exceed $5 million, and attorneys' costs and expenses not to exceed $70,000.
On April 19, 2013, Judge Schenkier issued an order stating that the entirety of damages had been paid and any remainder of the settlement fund would be returned to the City of Chicago.
On March 10, 2014, an individual plaintiff filed a motion to file a belated claim as a previously unnotified class member. The motion was denied on March 13, 2014 for being untimely. The individual plaintiff then filed a request of decision on the pending motion to file a belated claim on May 15, 2014. Judge Gettleman denied the motion as moot on May 27, 2014, because the belated claim was already denied as untimely on March 13, 2014. The plaintiff then filed a motion to reconsider and a notice to appeal on June 11, 2014.
On June 12, 2014, another individual plaintiff filed a motion to file a late claim.
Judge Gettleman, on June 25, 2014, denied the first plaintiff’s motion to reconsider the belated claim for lack of jurisdiction and denied the second plaintiff’s motion to file a late claim as untimely.
On June 26, 2014, the Seventh Circuit, per the Clerk’s Office, ordered the first plaintiff’s motion be transferred to the clerk of the district court for ruling. On September 29, 2014, the Seventh Circuit dismissed the appeal for failure to pay the required docketing fee. This case is closed.
Summary Authors
Dan Dalton (2/11/2008)
Andrew Steiger (1/28/2014)
John He (2/29/2016)
Andrew Eslich (1/16/2024)
Related Cases
Lopez v. City of Chicago, Northern District of Illinois (2001)
People
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4251325/parties/dunn-v-city-of-chicago/
Acuff, Kristin Linn (Illinois)
Addison, Jennifer C (Illinois)
Aguiar, William Macy (Illinois)
Ahmad, Hoorya R. (Illinois)
Ahmadian, Peter A (Illinois)
Ainsworth, Russel R. (Illinois)
Donnell, Heather Lewis (Illinois)
Flowers, Jodi Westbrook (Illinois)
Garrison, David Wilson (Illinois)
Gottesfeld, Mark Justin (Illinois)
Haefele, Robert Turner (Illinois)
Hegwood, Talmon Hegwood (Illinois)
Kanovitz, Michael I. (Illinois)
Kosoglad, Jared Samuel (Illinois)
Acuff, Kristin Linn (Illinois)
Addison, Jennifer C (Illinois)
Aguiar, William Macy (Illinois)
Altman, Joan Pettee (Illinois)
Anderson, Barbara Louise (Illinois)
Andrews, Mark Douglas (Illinois)
Atkins, Stacey McGlynn (Illinois)
Avendano, Naomi Ann (Illinois)
Babbitt, Elizabeth Erin (Illinois)
Baker, Stephen Paul (Illinois)
Barber, Catherine Macneil (Illinois)
Barnett, Shawn William (Illinois)
Baron, David Michael (Illinois)
Barton, Elizabeth Kathleen (Illinois)
Becker, Heather R.M. (Illinois)
Bell, Alexandria Lyubov (Illinois)
Benjamin, Stacy Ann (Illinois)
Benson, Victoria Rose (Illinois)
Boachie-Ansah, Linda (Illinois)
Borkan, Steven Blair (Illinois)
Botana, James Francis (Illinois)
Boudreaux, Barrett Elizabeth (Illinois)
Boulahanis, Jonathan M. (Illinois)
Brodrick, Audrey Lane (Illinois)
Bruce, Julia Suzanne (Illinois)
Burns, Terrence Michael (Illinois)
Caminer, Irene Schild (Illinois)
Carey, Margaret Ann (Illinois)
Carney, Theresa Berousek (Illinois)
Chandrasekaran, Uma (Illinois)
Charlton, Genevieve Elizabeth (Illinois)
Cifonelli, Jonathan Booker (Illinois)
Clamage, Chad Matthew (Illinois)
Collins, Daniel John (Illinois)
Cook, Andrea Elizabeth (Illinois)
Crane, Alison Blair (Illinois)
Crawford, Kathleen D. (Illinois)
Crosby, Kristen Wenstrup (Illinois)
Crowe, Kathleen Veronica (Illinois)
Crowl, Matthew Charles (Illinois)
Cueto, Christopher F. (Illinois)
Cunningham, Jason Fay (Illinois)
Daffada, James Vincent (Illinois)
DiCianni, Thomas George (Illinois)
Dishman, Neil Hunter (Illinois)
Durkin, Jessica Ryan (Illinois)
Engquist, Josh Michael (Illinois)
Erickson, Anne McInnis (Illinois)
Fahrbach, Kimberly D. (Illinois)
Farmer, Gary Michael (Illinois)
Fordyce, Tiffany S. (Illinois)
Franklin, Liza Marie (Illinois)
Freitag, Thomas Howard (Illinois)
Fronczak, Caroline Jane (Illinois)
Gabrielides, John T. (Illinois)
Gagliardo, Joseph Michael (Illinois)
Gainer, Brian Patrick (Illinois)
Gallagher, Daniel Francis (Illinois)
George, Penelope Moutoussamy (Illinois)
Georges, Mara Stacy (Illinois)
Gest, Rebecca Miriam (Illinois)
Getchell, Cherie K. (Illinois)
Gibbons, Helen Catherine (Illinois)
Given, Jeffrey Neil (Illinois)
Goggin, John Patrick (Illinois)
Gorman, Maureen Ann (Illinois)
Gowin, Lindsay Wilson (Illinois)
Graver, David Arthur (Illinois)
Green, Jonathan Clark (Illinois)
Grill, Andrew Joseph (Illinois)
Grossman, David Alan (Illinois)
Grunewald, Kimberly Michelle (Illinois)
Hader, Matthew Raymond (Illinois)
Hamilton, Jennifer Louise (Illinois)
Harper, Valerie Depies (Illinois)
Harris, Tiffany Yvette (Illinois)
Heggie, Corinne Cantwell (Illinois)
Helfrich, Gretchen Elizabeth (Illinois)
Hirsch, Rebecca Alfert (Illinois)
Holloway, William J. (Illinois)
Holmes, Patricia Brown (Illinois)
Holzhauer, James D. (Illinois)
Hudson, Nathalina A (Illinois)
Jackson, Heather Ann (Illinois)
James, Gregory Robert (Illinois)
Johnson, Julian Michael (Illinois)
Jones, Walter Jones (Illinois)
Jones, Philip Andrieus (Illinois)
Kabacinski, Bret Anthony (Illinois)
KASPER, MICHAEL JAMES (Illinois)
Kauffman, Cornel Hershel (Illinois)
Kedziora, Derrick Matthew (Illinois)
Kellam, Matthew Patrick (Illinois)
Kelly, Kristy Marie (Illinois)
Kelly, Catherine M. (Illinois)
Kelly, Renee O'Neill (Illinois)
Kendall, Patricia Jo (Illinois)
Kennedy, Meghan Kelley (Illinois)
Kennedy, John Francis (Illinois)
Kertez, Jay Michael (Illinois)
Kittila, Theodore Allan (Illinois)
Kivetz, Jeffrey Robert (Illinois)
Kolp, Brian Franklin (Illinois)
Kosztya, Ashley Caroline (Illinois)
Kountz, Isabelle Endres (Illinois)
Kowalczyk, Lawrence S. (Illinois)
Kulwin, Shelly Byron (Illinois)
Kupe-Arion, Carla Madeleine (Illinois)
Ladner, Tracey Renee (Illinois)
Lamprinakos, Nikoleta (Illinois)
Layden, Michael Thomas (Illinois)
LeHew, Bradford Allen (Illinois)
Leinenweber, Thomas More (Illinois)
Letts, Eileen Marie (Illinois)
Levy, Richard Bruce (Illinois)
Liggins, Ebone Alexis (Illinois)
Lubetsky, Jill Bornstein (Illinois)
Machnik, Thaddeus S. (Illinois)
Magginas, Maria Elizabeth (Illinois)
Martin, Marshall Keith (Illinois)
Martin, Arlene Esther (Illinois)
Marx, Jason Michael (Illinois)
Masciopinto, Anthony James (Illinois)
Masters, Silvia Mercado (Illinois)
McAusland, Alec Meacham (Illinois)
McCahill, Mary Elizabeth (Illinois)
McCarthy, James Patrick (Illinois)
McDonald, Mary Sara (Illinois)
Mcdonnell, Sean Patrick (Illinois)
McGee, Michele Marie (Illinois)
McGrath, Megan Kelly (Illinois)
Mclaughlin, Ellen Wight (Illinois)
McNulty, Lily Marie (Illinois)
Mincy, J. Ernest III (Illinois)
Monaghan, Megan Kathleen (Illinois)
Monahan, Michael Patrick (Illinois)
Moore, Marion Claire (Illinois)
Moore, Brendan Thomas (Illinois)
Morrison, Katherine Carole (Illinois)
Mowatt, Raoul Vertick (Illinois)
Mulcahy, Kourtney A (Illinois)
Murray, Alfred Kirkland (Illinois)
Murray, Christopher Michael (Illinois)
Murray, Brian Joseph (Illinois)
Mustokoff, Michael M. (Illinois)
Naber, Jennifer Anne (Illinois)
Neely, Melanie Patrick (Illinois)
Noland, Daniel Matthew (Illinois)
Nowak, Richard Edward (Illinois)
O'Keefe, Susan Margaret (Illinois)
O'Malley, Dana Marie (Illinois)
O'Malley, Alexius Cruz (Illinois)
Onyango, Eric Carlos (Illinois)
Otsuka, Gregory Steven (Illinois)
Papushkewych, Darka S. (Illinois)
Park, Arnold Hyunguk (Illinois)
Parker, Christopher R. (Illinois)
Perconte, Jeffrey D. (Illinois)
Perry, Clifford Raymond (Illinois)
Pezanoski, Diane M. (Illinois)
Piell, Jeffrey Scott (Illinois)
Pinkston, Kristin M. (Illinois)
Platt, Thomas Joseph (Illinois)
Prendergast, Richard J. (Illinois)
Preston, Anne Katherine (Illinois)
Rahe, Austin Gordon (Illinois)
Reed, Tanisha Renae (Illinois)
Reliford, Arthur Jerome (Illinois)
Rizzo, Vincent Michael (Illinois)
Robling, Kenneth Charles (Illinois)
Rodriguez, Juanita B. (Illinois)
Rose, Suzanne Miriam (Illinois)
Rosen, Eileen Ellen (Illinois)
Rosenberg, Christina Liu (Illinois)
Rutherford, Robert Charles (Illinois)
Sacks, Stanley Joel (Illinois)
Scharf, Stephanie Ann (Illinois)
Schmadeke, Charles Robert (Illinois)
Schoop, Devlin Joseph (Illinois)
Schumann, Anthony L. (Illinois)
Scott, Curtrice White (Illinois)
Seery, David Justin (Illinois)
Shannon, Robert Thomas (Illinois)
Shaw, Ryenne Chantelle (Illinois)
Sheahan, Terrence J. (Illinois)
Shedd, David Andrew (Illinois)
Sheerin, Caroline K. (Illinois)
Shoffner, Robin Denise (Illinois)
Sichi, Elizabeth Kay (Illinois)
Siefert, Nicholas Easton (Illinois)
Sikes, Richard Thomas (Illinois)
Skiermont, Karey Vering (Illinois)
Sobota, Margaret R. (Illinois)
Stalf, Krista Eleanore (Illinois)
Staruck, Elizabeth F. (Illinois)
Tootooian, Michael W. (Illinois)
Vanorny, Lindsey M. (Illinois)
Walker, Daniel Walker (Illinois)
Walker, Allen Price (Illinois)
Wallace, Christopher A (Illinois)
Wee, Christine Keeyeh (Illinois)
Welsh, Kelly Raymond (Illinois)
White, Christina S. (Illinois)
Winchester, Jason Graham (Illinois)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Docket
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4251325/dunn-v-city-of-chicago/
Last updated July 20, 2026, 5:07 a.m.
Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Oct. 21, 2004
Closing Date: Sept. 29, 2014
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Individuals detained by Chicago police (1) in interrogation rooms for over 16 hours; (2) over night in lock-up without bedding; (3) over 48 hours without a probable cause hearing
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Granted
Defendants
City
City of Chicago
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Unreasonable search and seizure
Other Dockets:
Northern District of Illinois 1:04-cv-06804
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit 14-02296
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Amount Defendant Pays: $16.5 million
Issues
General/Misc.:
Jails, Prisons, Detention Centers, and Other Institutions:
Over/Unlawful Detention (facilities)
Policing:
Case Summary of Dunn v. City of Chicago, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/10655/ (last updated 1/16/2024).