The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced on May 28 that it is implementing major internal reforms to its handling of grand jury proceedings following prosecutorial misconduct that led to the collapse of a high-profile case against six protesters.
Andrew Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said these are “the most substantial and significant internal changes” the office has seen in decades. He said the new measures aim to make the grand jury process “more transparent, effective, and impactful while greatly reducing the likelihood of mistakes and errors.” The reforms took effect Tuesday for all grand jury proceedings in the district.
The announcement comes after federal charges against six people who protested outside Broadview’s immigration processing facility last year were dismissed due to errors by prosecutors during grand jury proceedings. A judge uncovered misconduct including improperly dismissing jurors, a prosecutor interacting with a juror outside official proceedings, and vouching—where an attorney assures a witness’s reliability or truthfulness before jurors.
Boutros outlined that changes include more extensive education about grand jury presentations as well as “extensive, deep-dive” training from national experts outside his office. He said these steps make his office “among, if not the leading district in the country [for] grand jury disclosures.” Boutros added, “These remediations should also be deeply curative and put to rest once and for all the divergent practices that have existed across the Office for decades… It also should all but eliminate points of contention between federal prosecutor and defense counsel as it relates to these grand jury issues.”
Last week’s revelations have had broader implications: two individuals involved in another prominent case are now seeking dismissal of charges against them based on admissions made during this protester-related case. Defense attorneys criticized prosecutors’ conduct as undermining trust in government and an example of misuse within the justice system.
