Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 7h

My philosophy has been that when I just drink black coffee it's hardly different than just putting water in my mug? From, like, a cleanliness standpoint?

Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 7h

Are we talking a clean, or just a rinse? And do you put milk in your coffee? Cause that makes a big impact imo. I rinse it regularly, give it a proper clean every few weeks?

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 21h

I'm convinced that part of the "men are less manly" panic comes from the fact that the world around you looks different when you are a literal child! It's the same reason many can't get over how much better things were during their childhood. You were a kid! Of course the world seemed different!

Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 23h

1984

Q -- I'm an older woman and I believe in equal rights and all that, but, Langdon, don't you think all this women's lib stuff has contributed to the "wimping" of American men? Am I just imagining it, or is today's man less manly than those I grew up with? -- A Strong Woman for a Strong Man

--The York Dispatch, 2 Jul 1984

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 21h

When I talk to people who don't do journalism/policy/law for a living, they often think that wrongful convictions are unavoidable. This is not true. They are a policy decision. A group of people made a choice, and a man spent 8 more years of his life behind bars because of it.

Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 22h

Those 34 years would have been 26 years if the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit had cleared Francisco Benitez instead of denying him in 2015. He's one of at least 21 people the group rejected who were later exonerated. You can read about it in my @injusticewatch.org series Denying Innocence.

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Dan Hinkel @danhinkel.bsky.social · 22h

Those 34 years would have been 26 years if the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit had cleared Francisco Benitez instead of denying him in 2015. He's one of at least 21 people the group rejected who were later exonerated. You can read about it in my @injusticewatch.org series Denying Innocence.

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 22h

Wild how quickly @danhinkel.bsky.social's article became relevant again.

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Kelly Garcia @kellygarcia.bsky.social · 1d

As the meeting wraps up, Commissioner Degnen asks about Superintendent Leonard Dixon — whose presence at the facility we raised questions about.

Deputy Superintendent William Steward says Dixon is present at the facility everyday, "boots on the ground."

www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

Superintendent of Chicago’s youth jail might not live here, records show

Leonard Dixon has run the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center — one of the largest youth jails in the country — for a decade. Records and interviews suggest he might not live in Chicago an...

www.injusticewatch.org

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Kelly Garcia @kellygarcia.bsky.social · 1d

The Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center Advisory Board meeting (so many words...) is underway at 69 W. Washington. On the agenda: updates on plans to "reimagine" the facility.

I'll be live-tweeting so make sure to follow along 👇 @injusticewatch.org

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Geoffrey Cubbage @geoffreycubbage.bsky.social · 2d

🧵 A deep dive into guaranteed funding floors for three Chicago oversight agencies -- Office of Inspector General, Civilian Office of Police Accountability, and Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability -- found actual departmental budgets well short of the minimums.

Analysis: Departmental Budgets Fall Short of Mandatory Minimums for City Oversight Agencies

Non-departmental calculated costs and accounting adjustments make up difference, BGA Policy analysis finds

www.bettergov.org

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Jonah Newman @jonahshai.bsky.social · 2d

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Injustice Watch @injusticewatch.org · 2d

Every question in our survey will help our editorial, engagement, and operations teams make decisions about what they do. It takes about seven minutes to complete. Help shape our future work. buff.ly/MG6mbcv

A graphic reads "You read, follow, or share our work. Now help guide what we do. Fill out our survey. Enter to win $100 + a custom portrait. Two winners every week for a month."

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 2d

Having a budget floor helps ensure oversight agencies are funded well enough to do their jobs! As Geoffrey describes, the budgeting practices here lead to an "apples-to-oranges comparison of COPA’s budget plus fringe to 1% of CPD’s non-grant budget without fringe." CCPSA faces the same issue.

Geoffrey Cubbage @geoffreycubbage.bsky.social · 2d

Lots to read in the article, but I'll highlight what's probably the biggest impact, and the hardest in my mind to defend: "fringe" calculations of pension/benefit costs are counted towards the budget floors for COPA/CCPSA, but *not* as part of the CPD budget on which their floors are based.

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Geoffrey Cubbage @geoffreycubbage.bsky.social · 3d

A thing I think it’s important for USians not in currently-occupied cities to grasp is that the normal and everyday goes on alongside the violent and unprecedented.

In Chicago right now you can be forced off teargas-soaked streets in the morning and have a peaceful evening picnic on the lake.

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Peter Nickeas @peternickeas.bsky.social · 3d

Some context that I think gets lost by calling people here "protesters." Strictly true that they were protesting. But this was neighborhood. Almost all of it was people who came out of their houses and pleaded to stop using gas because there were kids in houses/yards in the blocks off Kedzie.

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Peter Nickeas @peternickeas.bsky.social · 4d

Chaos in Brighton Park. This is representative of the amount / direction of pepper and smoke sent into the neighborhood, in this case, for no reason I can discern other than because they were leaving. Feds had a clear path out in a different direction, and residents were vocal but not violent here.

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Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 4d

NEWS: Trump is federalizing 300 National Guard troops in Illinois, Gov. Pritzker announced.

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Geoffrey Cubbage @geoffreycubbage.bsky.social · 5d

I'm just gonna say it, I don't think the Attorney General's current stated position -- that this is just good ol' crowd control and traffic safety operations, totally unrelated to helping ICE -- is sustainable.

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 5d

A caravan of Border Patrol and ICE vehicles driving out of the facility is met with a roar of insults. IL state troopers holding the crowd back. One masked CBP agent inside his vehicle flashes a peace sign.

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Jim Daley @jimdaleywrites.bsky.social · 5d

In case you're wondering whether the TRUST Act will protect anyone: Border patrol just attacked press and protesters inside ISP's designated "free speech zone" and the state police reacted by immediately establishing a protective perimeter for the feds

shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · 5d

moments ago: pandemonium.

a huge mass of border patrol agents, led by greg bovino, pushed the crowd of protesters and started grabbing people at random.

leading up to this, folks were just calmly standing in the grass, following isp’s orders.

multiple people detained. no clue how many.

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Geoffrey Cubbage @geoffreycubbage.bsky.social · 5d

When the rubber (bullets) meet the road, civilian controls like the TRUST Act mostly serve to demonstrate that civilian controls and oversight were always a fig leaf, and that the people with guns are gonna do what they want to do.

This is, to put it mildly, deeply corrosive to the civil fabric.

shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · 5d

fwiw, i asked the illinois attorney general kwame raoul’s office last week (before the addition of state police and cook county sheriffs) about broadview police helping move protesters out of the way for ice agents.

this is what they told me:

The TRUST Act does not prevent local law enforcement from taking actions to protect public safety, such as using lawful crowd control tactics (including establishing a security or traffic perimeter for public safety purposes) and enforcing criminal laws prohibiting violence and property destruction. We rely on Illinois law enforcement officers to enforce state laws, and we expect that they will comply with those laws - including the TRUST Act. The TRUST Act gives the Attorney General's office the responsibility to investigate violations where appropriate, and the Attorney General's office is committed to collaborating with our state and local law enforcement partners to ensure Illinois law is followed.

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 5d

I realize there's a list afterwards, but is it exhaustive? The list includes "establishing a security or traffic perimeter surrounding such operations," but does that just mean putting up a perimeter around the site of the arrest? Are they allowed to give ICE an escort back to Broadview?

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 5d

Can a lawyer explain how local law enforcement setting up a perimeter around the Broadview facility to help facilitate detaining people doesn't violate the TRUST Act? Aren't they prohibited to "participate, support, or assist in any capacity with an immigration agent's enforcement operations"

shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · 5d

the cook county sheriff’s office and illinois state police announce they’re setting up a “temporary unified command” to “coordinate public safety efforts” outside the broadview ice detention center.

this includes “designated areas” for protest along the sidewalk “to allow emergency vehicle access.”

CHICAGO - At the request of the Broadview Police Department, the Cook County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) and the Illinois State Police (ISP), with assistance from the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA), have established a temporary Unified Command to coordinate public safety measures in Broadview around the facility being used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Unified Command is setting up designated areas where people can safely exercise their rights, which will support the safety of the public, and ensure vehicular traffic can safely access the roads in the area. The goal of the Unified Command is to protect the health and safety of all individuals, including nearby Broadview residents and businesses, and enable the peaceful expression of First Amendment rights. The agencies involved in this operation will neither assist nor obstruct enforcement of federal immigration statutes in compliance with state and federal law.

Uniformed officers will be on site to help direct people to the designated areas. In addition to protecting the safety and rights of people peacefully expressing their views, these measures will also ensure that third parties that need access to the facility - including attorneys and legal representatives, people bringing medicine to detainees, and representatives from foreign consulates - will maintain clear points of access to the facility.

Below are designated protests areas, which will be marked on site.

a map of the “protest areas” outside the broadview ice facility. the designated areas span the sidewalk on the west side of the street and a grassy patch on the east side of the street.

the area in front of the facility, where ice had previously illegally installed a fence, is marked as a “restricted area”

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Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere @tylerplariviere.bsky.social · 5d

PHOTOS: Local authorities to place barricades outside Broadview ICE facility to 'protect First Amendment rights'

READ MORE HERE: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Illinois State Police officers chat with one another on Beach Street, outside the Broadview ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Protesters rally on Beach Street and Lexington Street, outside the Broadview ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A federal law enforcement officer stands guard along a fence on Beach Street, outside the Broadview ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview as officers wait for a person to turn themselves in, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Illinois Department of Transportation crews begin installing barricades on Beach Street to create official protest areas, outside the Broadview ICE processing facility in suburban Broadview, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

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ACLU @aclu.org · 5d

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

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shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · 5d

the cook county sheriff’s office and illinois state police announce they’re setting up a “temporary unified command” to “coordinate public safety efforts” outside the broadview ice detention center.

this includes “designated areas” for protest along the sidewalk “to allow emergency vehicle access.”

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 6d

"Trees were splattered with what seemed like blood and painted with satanic symbols. Grottoes and the grave dripped with candle wax.

"Fortunately, no human remains were found, and the 'blood' turned out to be theatrical makeup."

Sounds like a vibe.

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Sophie @sophiavp.bsky.social · 6d

Over 5000 people have gone through these nightmarish conditions so far this year.

Lauren FitzPatrick @bylaurenfitz.bsky.social · 6d

Broadview was never designed to be a detention facility, but the administration of President Donald Trump is now using it as a de facto one. As a “service processing center” it’s intended to hold up people picked up by immigration authorities for up to 12 hours. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

ICE's Broadview facility has become a de facto detention center, minus the rules and oversight

ICE regularly held immigrants far beyond the hours they set for the Broadview processing center, data through July shows. Immigrants held there say there are no beds, limited food, and toilets are out...

chicago.suntimes.com

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