A class action has been filed against the city of Chicago by suspects who were held more than 48 hours before being brought before a judge or charged with a crime. The primary plaintiff in the civil rights case is Joseph Lopez who was held for five days, handcuffed to a wall in a police interview room, without mattress, blanket or pillows, so he could be interrogated about a murder. It later turned out someone else committed the crime. He filed suit after he was released. Subsequently, the Judge allowed to case to be brought as a class action and it is expected that hundreds, maybe thousands, of individuals kept more than 48 hours will be joining the case.

In the 1991 case of Riverside v. McLaughlin,

the Supreme Court said holding suspects longer than two days without judicial review is unconstitutional. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote ... in a 5-4 ruling, that a 48-hour rule would permit "a reasonable postponement of a probable-cause determination while the police cope with the everyday problems of processing suspects through an overburdened criminal justice system."

Chicago police are now considering implementing a 48 hour rule, but say the decision places them "between a rock and a hard place." Suffice it to say we are not sympathetic to the police.