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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Chicago Little League|Team Wants Answers

CHICAGO (CN) - The Jackie Robinson West Little League team that stole Chicago's hearts before being stripped of its wins in the 2014 Little League World Series wants to know who its accusers are.

The team sued Little League International and the Illinois on Tuesday in Cook County Court. It claims, among other things, that the Little League might have "illegally obtained" information about it from the Illinois State Police.

Jackie Robinson West was stripped of its Great Lakes Regional win, its manager was suspended, the team was placed on probation and its tournament privileges were suspended indefinitely - all without benefit of a hearing, the team says.

It claims the Little League never provided it with notice of violations or impending penalties and never gave it a chance to defend itself. The team says it found out about the penalties when they were announced to the general public.

It says it requested information during the investigation, but the Little League refused to provide it.

"Upon information and belief, JRW also understands that Little League was supplied information, directly or indirectly, that was improperly and even illegally obtained from the Illinois State Police in potential violation of the rights of team parents," the complaint states.

The team says the state police refused to respond to its Freedom of Information Act request.

It asks the court to order the Little League to identity the people who raised concerns about the residences of the team's players, the identity of Little League officials who conducted the investigation, all documents related to the investigation, and who made the decision about penalties.

And it wants the court to order Illinois to identify who obtained or provided information about team parents, and the location of all records related of the investigation.

The team is represented by Victor Henderson, with Henderson Adam.

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