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Case 10 - Illinois State Police Guilty of Discrimination Against  White Males!

U.S. District Judge Orders Illinois State Police to Remedy Past "Reverse Discrimination" in Koski v. Gainer Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) CASE #: 92-CV-3293

          If you were a white male who applied to the Illinois State Police between 1975 and 1990, chances are good you were rejected because of your skin color!  Reverse Discrimination Chief Gainer "flees" to Washington, DC!

Illinois Doesn't Want White State Police:  In this mid-Western state, skin color is more important than law-enforcement abilities!

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Be sure to also see the Update Aug. 22, 1998.

Illinois State Police Guilty of
Reverse Discrimination!
Judge orders State to Offer Remedies to Troopers!

          In Koski v. Gainer (Terrance Gainer, Chief of Illinois State Police), the Seventh Federal Circuit Court (Northern District of Illinois, Chicago) found that 5,000 non-minority officers and officer-applicants were illegally denied either promotions within the State Police, or the opportunity for a job with the State Police because they were not minorities!

          Today, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber ordered the State of Illinois to implement additional, specific remedies, which include the following:

-     12 of the white troopers must be promoted, or receive retroactive seniority.

-     7 of the 12 white officers who had been denied promotions under the unconstitutional racial selection guidelines will receive back pay and punitive damages for "emotional distress". The award of $205,000 will be split by these 7 officers.

-     Four of the officers must be given promotions which they were illegally denied because of their race (because of their non-minority status).

-     As many as 5,000 of the rejected officer-applicants must be contacted by the State and must be offered the opportunity to re-apply!

          In Koski v. Gainer, the 7th Circuit Court determined that the State of Illinois had maintained an illegal, unconstitutional "double-standard" regarding written test scores of the applicants between 1975 and 1990: The "cutoff score" for non-minority (white) applicants was significantly higher than the "cutoff score" for minority (non-white) applicants.

Legalese:  The Court ruled for the plaintiffs (the non-minorities) because the state police's affirmative action program was not sufficiently linked to any previous pattern of racial imbalance in hiring.

          The Court determined that the Illinois State Police's race-based hiring plan was unconstitutional since it relied on "dual lists" (one for minorities and one for non-minorities) and the plan called for hiring 50% minorities until representation of minorities in state highway patrol matched that in the general population.  The Court said that matching the general population is not a "narrowly tailored" means of eliminating past discrimination, when there is no suggestion that such racial parity would have existed but for the discrimination.

          The Illinois Attorney General, Jim Ryan, is upset about the remedies the Judge has ordered. The Court has ordered the State of Illinois to perform the following steps to help remedy the reverse discrimination against the 5,000 troopers and trooper-candidates who had been subjected to Illinois’ reverse discrimination:

(1) The State of Illinois must contact all white male trooper-applicants (1975 - 1990) who lost out under Illinois' illegal and unconstitutional racial quota plan;

(2) The State of Illinois must offer these officers and/or officer-applicants a chance to re-apply, without having to re-take the written test (on which they previously performed well);

(3) If the rejected applicants are no longer at their old addresses (some of which date back to 1975!) the State of Illinois must conduct a search for their new addresses so that these candidates may be offered the chance to re-apply. The Court ordered the State to use driver’s license records, among other resources, to track down the illegally-rejected applicants.

          Illinois Attorney General spokesperson Dan Curry, and State Police Chief Terrance Gainer were very ticked off at the Judge’s order. They said that tracking down victims of Illinois' reverse discrimination from as long ago as 20 years will impose an "onerous" burden!

Update 8-22-98:  Warning to Washington, DC!  Former Illinois State Police Chief Terrance Gainer has recently joined your police department!  That's right, following years of "reverse discrimination" controversy as the Illinois State Top Cop, Gainer has brought his prejudices against white cops to Washington, DC, where he now serves as "Executive Assistant Chief".

          Interestingly, Terrance Gainer's new boss in DC is Police Chief Charles Ramsey who is also recently from Illinois.  New DC Chief Ramsey previously served as Chicago's Deputy Police Superintendent.  Of course, it will be a little more difficult for the Illinois Duo to practice racial discrimination against white cops in DC because the city is over 80% black to begin with.  But we trust these guys to be creative. 

          DC residents should also be concerned that Gainer has a track record for use of wildly excessive force!  It was under Gainer's former "leadership" that the Illinois State Police mounted the infamous armed seige against Ms. Shirley Allen in Roby, Illinois.  The seige lasted from September 22 until October 30, 1997 and became known as "Roby Ridge".  The Illinois troopers shot tear gas into Shirley Allen's house, shot her with bean bag bullets, blasted music throughout the night to keep her awake, subjected her to a dog attack, and cut off her utilities, all in a vain effort to get her to leave her house.  Why?  Because she had refused to submit to an involuntary psychiatric evaluation arranged by her "concerned" family.  The fiasco became the longest police standoff in Illinois history, and held the entire force up to national ridicule.

          Thus, Terrance Gainer had lots of motivation to join the Washington, DC police department!  Be very afraid, Washingon!

          Perhaps this is just the kind of creative leadership Washingon, DC police need to help solve the city's horrible traffic and parking problems!  We know how violent those parking offenders can be.  Go get 'em, Terrance!

NOTE:  Two days after Adversity.Net published this update, DC police chief Charles Ramsey (fugitive from Illinois law enforcement's ranks) announced a "kinder, gentler" parking enforcement squad!   Henceforth in DC, parking enforcement personnel are now under orders to be polite and to offer directions and assistance to citizens.  Turning over a new leaf, Chief Ramsey?

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