A legal battle is brewing over the alleged failure of a major public office to comply with transparency laws. Shedrick Northern-Bowes has filed a complaint against the Cook County Sheriff's Office in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on June 20, 2024. The lawsuit accuses the Sheriff's Office of violating the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by not providing requested records.
According to court documents, Northern-Bowes submitted a FOIA request on May 29, 2024, seeking specific records related to an incident that occurred on August 8, 2023. The requested information includes body camera footage recorded by Lieutenant Investigator Hill during the removal of Northern-Bowes' house arrest band and subsequent medical actions taken at St. Mary's Hospital in Hobart, Indiana. Additionally, Northern-Bowes sought any written or electronic communications between the Cook County Sheriff's Home Monitoring Division and relevant parties regarding his medical condition and hospitalization on that date.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office acknowledged receipt of the FOIA request on June 13, 2024, and requested an extension to respond by June 20, 2024. However, as of June 18, 2024, they had failed to produce the requested records or provide a legally sufficient explanation for withholding them. This prompted Northern-Bowes to file a lawsuit alleging that the Sheriff's Office is violating FOIA by failing to produce the requested records.
Northern-Bowes claims that this violation is causing him irreparable harm and will continue to do so unless the court compels compliance with FOIA. He argues that he has no adequate remedy at law and seeks several forms of relief from the court. Specifically, he requests that the court order the Cook County Sheriff's Office to conduct searches for all records responsive to his request and demonstrate that they employed search methods reasonably likely to lead to their discovery. He also asks for an order requiring the production of all non-exempt records by a certain date and a Vaughn index of any responsive records withheld under a claim of exemption.
In addition to these orders, Northern-Bowes seeks an injunction preventing the Sheriff's Office from continuing to withhold any non-exempt records responsive to his request. He also requests an award of attorneys' fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred in this action pursuant to FOIA provisions.
The case is being overseen by Judge John Robert Blakey and Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert under Case ID: 1:24-cv-05156.