Chicago Justice Podcast

Tracy Siska
  • 4.3 (3)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Weekly

The Chicago Justice Podcast takes apart the stories we’re told about crime and public safety. It doesn’t sanitize the truth about crime and justice—it interrogates it. We dig into the data, the policies, and the power structures that shape who gets punished, who gets protected, and who gets ignored. Some conversations are uncomfortable. Others are infuriating. All of them are necessary. Through data-driven analysis and hard, unfiltered conversations with researchers, reform advocates, and people challenging the system from the inside, each episode dismantles the myths that dominate public debate. From racial bias and police violence to surveillance, incarceration, and policy failures that devastate communities, we reveal how justice actually works—and who it really serves. If you’re willing to question what you’ve been told, confront what’s broken, and wrestle with what real accountability and safety could actually look like, this podcast is for you.

  1. Jun 6

    Beyond Qualified Immunity: How Police Avoid Accountability

    In this episode, we sit down with Joanna C. Schwartz, UCLA law professor and author of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, to unpack the hidden systems that protect police from consequences. We go beyond the headlines about qualified immunity to explore what really blocks accountability: Why most police misconduct lawsuits fail before trial How courts, police departments, and legal rules work together to “shield” officers The surprising truth about who actually pays when lawsuits succeed Why internal discipline systems rarely deliver justice What reforms could actually change the system Grounded in real cases, data, and decades of research, Schwartz reveals a reality most people never see: accountability doesn’t just break down in court—it fails at every stage. If you care about policing, civil rights, or how legal systems actually work in practice, this conversation is essential listening.

    51 min

  2. May 22

    Because I Got Raided: Afroman, Police Power, and a Lawsuit That Backfired”

    This week, we break down the controversial 2022 raid of Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman’s home by Adams County Sheriff’s deputies and the legal fallout that followed. Acting on claims from a confidential informant alleging kidnapped women, a “sex dungeon,” and large quantities of marijuana, officers executed a warrant that ultimately uncovered none of it. In fact, there wasn’t even a basement. Joining us is Afroman’s attorney, Dr. David Osborne, who walks us through the critical legal questions at the heart of the case, from the reliability of the informant to the steps deputies did or didn’t take to verify the allegations before obtaining the warrant. We also dive into the aftermath. Afroman used home security footage from the raid in a series of music videos tied to his 18th studio album, and seven deputies later filed a civil lawsuit alleging defamation and invasion of privacy. Was this a failure of police procedure, a breakdown in judicial oversight, or something more? Tune in as we unpack the facts, the law, and what this case could mean for accountability in law enforcement. What we cover: How a single informant’s claims led to a full-scale raid The warrant process and probable cause questions What deputies found and didn’t find The legal battle over Afroman’s use of the footage Broader implications for civil liberties and police accountability 🎧 Subscribe, rate, and review to support the show and never miss an episode analyzing the most pressing issues in criminal justice.

    44 min

  3. Apr 29

    Crime, Fear, and Power: Why We’re Taking a National Focus

    How politics, media, and institutions distort crime narratives across America Fear has become the dominant framework for how Americans understand crime—and it is often deliberately manufactured. In this episode of the Chicago Justice Podcast, host Tracy Siska, Executive Director of the Chicago Justice Project, introduces a new national focus for the show. We examine how crime and violence are exploited by political leaders, media outlets, justice system officials, and police unions to shape public perception, deflect accountability, and justify extreme policy responses. Despite well‑documented declines in violent crime across much of the country from 2022 through 2025, fear‑based narratives persist. Isolated incidents are amplified, progress is denied, and national trends are ignored when they complicate political agendas. This episode challenges the myths surrounding crime “waves,” questions who benefits from public fear, and explores how distorted narratives can lead to real‑world consequences—including militarized responses and the erosion of democratic accountability. This episode marks the beginning of our expanded national lens on public safety, justice, and truth.

    5 min

  4. 07/31/2024

    What does the science say about ShotSpotter?

    In a first-of-its-kind independent analysis of the effectiveness of ShotSpotter, the science says the technology does not lead to more arrests and convictions for gun crimes and does not reduce these crimes in the areas where it is deployed. The study examined the impact of ShotSpotter in Chicago and Kansas City. To understand the science more deeply, we sat down with the study’s first author, Dr. Eric Piza, who is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Director of Crime Analysis Initiatives, and Co-Director of the Crime Prevention Lab at Northeastern University. The study does uncover that ShotSpotter positively impacted response times, the location of victims, and the recovery of evidence from crime scenes. While this all sounds great, it is not even remotely reflective of the criminological gains promised by SoundThinking, the company that owns the technology. The original sales pitch promised more arrests for gun crimes and convictions and, thus, a reduction in gun violence. None of these promises have come to fruition. This scholarly peer-reviewed analysis mostly mirrors previous analyses conducted by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the MacArthur Justice Center, and the Chicago Office of Inspector General. Pro-police politicians & journalists in Chicago have dismissed all three of these previous analyses as biased, including the one from the City’s Inspector General. The alt-right refuses to hear any criticism of the police department, no matter how fact-based those criticisms might be. This shuts down any possibility of a public discussion on the merits of anything the police are in favor of. This most recent study is just being ignored by the media and politicians in Chicago. This is probably because they cannot label it biased. Instead, many alderpersons in Chicago are calling on the mayor to keep the ShotSpotter contract in place despite the technology failing to deliver on any of its promises.

    49 min

  5. 07/10/2024

    Time to Remove Guns from People Suspected of DV?

    We open season four with a discussion of Karina’s bill, which hopes to formalize a process for the courts & police departments throughout Illinois to seize guns from individuals who have an order of protection entered against them. Our guest today is Danielle Parisi Ruffatto, Managing Director of the Family Law and Protective Orders Division at Ascend Justice. We discuss the horrific murder of Karina Gonzales & her daughter Daniela Alvarez at the hands of Karina’s husband, Jose Alvarez, who had been ordered to stay away from the home. The protector order Karina received from the court revokes a person’s FOID card, but the court and police do not have a formal process for ensuring that officers remove the gun when they are serving the order of protection. Karina’s bill will formalize this process while empowering judges to approve search warrants when entering the protective order to allow officers to search homes & retrieve weapons if necessary. Support CJP via Patreon Get involved in our work – Join CJP Nation!

    40 min

  6. 11/15/2023

    Trying to Erase History is Purposeful

    On today’s show, we discuss the connection between racialized policing in the US and the efforts by the right-wing to erase slavery from America’s history. We discuss this with Joseph Flynn, the Executive Director for Equity and Inclusion in the Division of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at Northern Illinois University. The efforts to rewrite American history are an attempt to prevent Americans from realizing the connection between slavery, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights struggle in the mid-20th century, and policing in communities of color today. Absent this context, it could seem ridiculous for anyone to conclude that the justice system is and has been systemically racist. The right-wing wants everyone to think that the murders of George Floyd and Laquan McDonald are unrelated events. That the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse for his crimes had nothing to do with the fact that America has, since its founding, feared black men and justified just about any action taken by white men against the bodies and lives of black men if the white man was “scared.” The verdict can easily be accepted if you view it from the lens of white supremacy that dictates that black men are nothing more than urban predators who cannot control their most primal urges. We also discuss the epidemic of fear surrounding ethnic studies programs at universities across the country. This fear has been driven by America’s growing underbelly of unsophisticated and fearful residents seeking someone to blame for the struggles in their lives. This makes them ripe for manipulation by the right-wing media machine and politicians who seek to benefit themselves at the expense of their supporters. This wedge serves to empower right-wing elites while simultaneously not only hurting communities of color but also putting the lives and bodies of people of color on the line. Dr. Joseph Flynn’s Perspectives on WNIU – Northern Public Radio can be found here.

    52 min

  7. 08/09/2023

    ACLU on CPD Traffic Stop Lawsuit

    On today’s episode, we feature an interview with Alexandra Block from the ACLU of Illinois about their lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department’s highly questionable traffic stop practices. The ACLU alleges that the CPD pulls people over exclusively to search them and their care for drugs and guns. According to their statistics, the CPD’s rate of finding guns, drugs, or cause to arrest the person they have pulled over is about 1%. In 2020 the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office documented a significant switch in tactics by the CPD from pursuing gun offenders, those who have committed a violent crime with a weapon, to seek those who possess an unregistered gun. In the ACLU lawsuit, they allege that in 2016 the CPD made another switch in tactics from doing large numbers of stops of pedestrians in communities of color to making car stops in never before seen numbers in those same communities. The ACLU calls this just another version of stop and frisk. When combining these two critical data points, it is evident that CPD officials made a concerted effort to change how they fight gun violence and where and how they search for unregistered guns. We also discussed with Alexandra that within a lawsuit filed by a former officer, internal emails were exposed showing high-ranking officers within the department pushing middle management to increase their traffic stop numbers. The emails reveal the pushing of unconstitutional CPD quotas designed to get officers on the street to increase significantly the number of pretextual stops they make. As the ACLU data shows, about 1 in 100 stops results in gun, drugs, or cause for arrest being found. Oddly enough, they also don’t result in a ticket being written. Significant proof that traffic safety is not a purpose for the stops.

    35 min

  8. 06/28/2023

    Mismanagement & Abuse at JTDC

    Today’s episode discusses the long history of abuse and mismanagement at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) with Injustice Watch reporters Kelly Garcia and Carlos Ballesteros. The JTDC has long been a dumping ground for clouted workers in Cook County government who were too incompetent for any other job in the county. This, combined with a seeming refusal of half of those running the facility to see their role as anything less than jailers, has led to a point where over the last decade, report after report has come out on the facility and their treatment of the youth in the facility. Despite these multiple reports of the horrible conditions within the facility, those in charge of running the facility seem unwilling and incapable of making the required changes. The JTDC is under the authority of Cook County Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans. One of the reports trashing the facility came from a committee he put together, and still, no significant change has come to the JTDC. We will discuss these issues and discuss Injustice Watch’s reporting on the JTDC with Kelly and Carlos.

    42 min
See All (129)

Ratings & Reviews

4.3
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The Chicago Justice Podcast takes apart the stories we’re told about crime and public safety. It doesn’t sanitize the truth about crime and justice—it interrogates it. We dig into the data, the policies, and the power structures that shape who gets punished, who gets protected, and who gets ignored. Some conversations are uncomfortable. Others are infuriating. All of them are necessary. Through data-driven analysis and hard, unfiltered conversations with researchers, reform advocates, and people challenging the system from the inside, each episode dismantles the myths that dominate public debate. From racial bias and police violence to surveillance, incarceration, and policy failures that devastate communities, we reveal how justice actually works—and who it really serves. If you’re willing to question what you’ve been told, confront what’s broken, and wrestle with what real accountability and safety could actually look like, this podcast is for you.

Information

You Might Also Like