A lawsuit was filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court today alleging that the City of Springfield, Illinois violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The lawsuit states that the Springfield Police Department shredded 73 Police Misconduct Files after Calvin Christian III sent a Freedom of Information request for those files.
The Lawsuit was filed by Attorneys: Don Craven, Esther Seitz, John Myers and Barbara Myers on behalf of their Client Calvin Christian, who has been in constant court battles with the City of Springfield to seek Police Misconduct files.
The lawsuit is also seeking a $5,000 penalty for each one of the 73 police misconduct files that were destroyed. That penalty could amount to a total of $365,000. The lawsuit is also seeking a re-creation of the improperly destroyed documents.
In the wake of this lawsuit, the City of Springfield sent the plaintiff’s attorney a copy of their authority to destroy records granted by the Illinois State Archivist. The City of Springfield does have the authority to destroy internal affairs files that are only 5 years old, which means they do not have the authority from the Memorandum of Understanding to destroy the 73 files which were less than 5 years old.
The Lawsuit was filed by Attorneys: Don Craven, Esther Seitz, John Myers and Barbara Myers on behalf of their Client Calvin Christian, who has been in constant court battles with the City of Springfield to seek Police Misconduct files.
The lawsuit is also seeking a $5,000 penalty for each one of the 73 police misconduct files that were destroyed. That penalty could amount to a total of $365,000. The lawsuit is also seeking a re-creation of the improperly destroyed documents.
In the wake of this lawsuit, the City of Springfield sent the plaintiff’s attorney a copy of their authority to destroy records granted by the Illinois State Archivist. The City of Springfield does have the authority to destroy internal affairs files that are only 5 years old, which means they do not have the authority from the Memorandum of Understanding to destroy the 73 files which were less than 5 years old.