(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced last week that a federal court ordered the deposition of a representative of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office in a lawsuit over her discriminatory interview policy. The court granted the request for discovery during a hearing this morning. In doing so, the court rejected arguments by the mayor’s lawyers against discovery and to dismiss the legal challenge.
Judicial Watch filed a motion for limited jurisdictional discovery after Mayor Lightfoot’s office once again changed its explanation about when and how she would only grant interviews to “journalists of color.” Only after Judicial Watch filed its lawsuit and the mayor had to defend her actions in court did the public learn that the racially biased criteria only applied to a purported “press tour.”
On May 27, 2021, Judicial Watch filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the Daily Caller News Foundation and reporter Thomas Catenacci against Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for violating their First Amendment Rights and Catenacci’s right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment (Catenacci et al v. Lightfoot (No. 1:21-cv-02852)).
Catenacci, a white male, emailed Mayor Lightfoot’s office requesting a one-on-one interview with the mayor. The office never replied to the request or to multiple follow up emails from Catenacci.
The civil rights lawsuit argues that Lightfoot purposefully discriminated against Catenacci “because of his race by stating that she would only grant interview requests from ‘journalists of color….’”
“America’s civil rights heroes must be turning over in their graves because of the overt racism now openly embraced by so many on the far left in America, including Chicago’s Mayor Lightfoot. We are optimistic the courts will agree that government officials are still not allowed to discriminate in America,” Daily Caller News Foundation President Neil Patel said.
“I look forward to understanding how the mayor’s office implemented such a discriminatory policy. My rights, and the First Amendment rights of countless other reporters in America, must not be trampled upon,” Thomas Catenacci said.
“We’re pleased by the federal court ruling requiring a representative of Mayor Lightfoot to explain, under oath, the scope and nature of her racist interview policy,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Christine Svenson of Svenson Law Offices in Palatine, Illinois, is assisting Judicial Watch with the lawsuit.