Kevin Golden has settled two Civil Rights Act of 1983 lawsuits, one in the Northern District of Illinois and the second in the Central District of Illinois. In the case in the Northern District, four Loves Park police officers demonstrated the use of excessive force after being involved in a confrontation with the deceased defendant. It was then concluded by a Winnebago County pathologist that the defendant died from “adverse effects of cocaine.” The plaintiff’s family hired an independent forensic pathologist, and it was concluded that the plaintiff died from blunt force trauma and asphyxiation by compression of the neck. The case was settled on the first day of trial.
In the second case, a 44-year-old female plaintiff was sentenced to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for an aggravated DUI, then transferred to Dwight Correctional Center. The transfer sheet noted that the plaintiff expressed suicidal behavior while being incarcerated at the DuPage County Jail, which had also discontinued the plaintiff’s psychotropic drugs the day prior to her transfer. While imprisoned at Dwight, the plaintiff submitted several written requests to be started back on her psychotropic drugs but was ignored by prison guards and medical staff. The plaintiff later committed suicide. The case was settled after mediation.