Decades of data haven’t ended racial disparities in Illinois traffic stops

The state started tracking traffic enforcement data in 2003 to curb racial profiling, but independent monitoring remains critical.

Tiasia SaundersAugust 26, 2026Home Page Secondary Feature, traffic stops

Nowhere to go: Chicago teens on ‘takeovers,’ curfews, and lost community spaces

A summer of viral gatherings, arrests and City Council debate has renewed old questions about race, public space and who gets to be young in public.

Jonathan TorresAugust 11, 2026Home Page Secondary Feature

Immigrants with longtime community ties and U.S. citizen children are finding success challenging their detention in federal court

Hundreds of Illinois immigrants have filed wrongful detention lawsuits since the Trump Administration’s Operation Midway Blitz began in September. Many of them have U.S. citizen children and longtime community ties.

Jose AbonceJune 24, 2026Injustice Watch

Illinois tax sales get an overhaul, but how much will homeowners benefit?

State legislators passed historic reforms to Illinois’ controversial tax sales, which had led to thousands losing their homes and all of their home equity.

Emeline PosnerJune 5, 2026Injustice Watch, tax foreclosure, Home Page Secondary Feature

Steps Illinois lawmakers could take to reform the state’s tax sale laws

Efforts in other states offer road maps for improving outcomes for homeowners and addressing the harms of tax foreclosure.

Emeline PosnerMarch 26, 2026Injustice Watch, tax foreclosure, solutions, Home Page Secondary Feature

The King of Liens

Real estate investor Greg Bingham made a fortune taking Cook County homes through tax foreclosure. Along the way, he has been dogged by allegations of fraud, according to court records and a previously undisclosed probe by the Treasurer’s office.

Carlos BallesterosMarch 12, 2026Injustice Watch, tax foreclosure, Home Page Secondary Feature

Cook County allows tax foreclosures by municipalities. Poor oversight led to misuse by local officials.

Officials were able to use the county’s revitalization program for personal and political gain, neglected seized properties, and stripped homeowners of equity they had built up in their properties.

Emeline PosnerJanuary 15, 2026Injustice Watch, tax foreclosure, Home Page Secondary Feature

Feds used chemical agents dozens of times in Chicago

An investigation by a group of Chicago-area newsrooms and independent journalists found that federal agents used tear gas and pepper spray at least 15 times in Brighton Park on Oct. 4 — more than the Chicago Police Department has used all year.

Property-tax foreclosure reform gets put off by Illinois legislators

Lawmakers said they again will consider the issue later this year. Meanwhile, Cook County will postpone its 2025 tax sale because of concerns over homeowners who fall behind on property taxes losing their homes and equity.

Illinois public college police pull over outsized number of Black drivers

Campus police ticketed Black drivers more often than white motorists who were stopped, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis done by the Investigative Project in collaboration with WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Investigative Project StaffMay 29, 2025Saluki Local Reporting Lab, traffic stops

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