Judge orders Medill students to give emails to prosecutors

Chicago Tribune | Daily Northwestern | Chicago Magazine
A Cook County judge has ruled that students of former Northwestern professor David Protess students were “acting as investigators in a criminal proceeding” and that they must give prosecutors more than 500 emails detailing their efforts to free a man serving a life sentence. “In this case, the Medill students worked at the direction of [the jailed man’s] attorneys, conducting interviews, gathering evidence,” the judge said. Protess says he’s “disappointed with the decision,” while Northwestern officials say they “respect the judge’s ruling and need to examine their options before moving forward.” (Read earlier coverage.) Just before the judge made her ruling, Chicago magazine posted its feature from the October issue examining what happened between Protess and Northwestern. “How did he and Medill come to such a bitter and rancorous end — in which no party escaped untarnished?” asks the magazine.