Following unusual decisions by federal grand jurors last fall to reject certain criminal charges during Operation Midway Blitz, the federal court in Chicago has adopted a new rule that could help the public better understand how often the secretive panels refuse to hand up indictments.
Long viewed with cynicism for being easily manipulated by prosecutors, grand juries have emerged nationally as a bulwark against federal overreach after they refused in 2025 to hand up indictments in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — a result known as a “no bill.”
The secrecy that traditionally surrounds the grand jury process makes it difficult to understand how often “no bills” occur. But earlier this month, Chicago’s federal court adopted a new local rule requiring public notice of a grand jury “no bill” on the court docket in certain circumstances.
U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall called it “a proactive approach to transparency” and added, “I believe we are one of the first districts in the country to implement such a rule.”
Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said “I doubt that there are rules like this, as explicit as this, because I don’t think most people thought it was necessary.”
“I think that this is, given our times, a measure to ensure that not only does the government take the ‘no bill’ back to the magistrate judge, but that information is on the docket,” Levenson told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Grand juries are meant to be a check against overzealous prosecutors. They are generally made up of 16 to 23 people who meet in secret and hear only from prosecutors and their witnesses. Twelve members of the panel must concur to hand up an indictment.
Chicago’s new rule applies when criminal charges have already been filed against an individual, either through a complaint or a charging document known as an information. Though the court already sought to comply with the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which required a grand jury foreperson to “promptly and in writing” report a “no bill” to a judge, the new rule explicitly requires public disclosure.
Specifically, the rule says a version of the form submitted by the foreperson, redacted to protect the foreperson’s identity, “will be filed unsealed in the docket of the underlying complaint or information.” The court adopted the rule May 4.
The rule would not apply when prosecutors try, and fail, to initiate a new criminal case by securing a grand jury indictment. It also does not apply retroactively, meaning any “no bill” handed up before May 4 will not be placed on the docket.
Federal grand jurors refused to hand up indictments against three known defendants charged last fall while opposing the Trump administration’s Midway Blitz deportation campaign. The feds acknowledged a fourth “no bill” in 2025, but it’s unclear whether it related to Midway Blitz.
Still, those instances only became public because a pair of magistrate judges pressed prosecutors in open court about why criminal charges against the defendants were being dropped. Magistrate judges are judicial officers appointed by district judges to handle certain day-to-day proceedings.
Grand jury “no bills” are considered extremely rare. Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, said they never occurred during her tenure. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes wrote in an opinion last fall that they were “virtually unheard of” in Chicago “until Operation Midway Blitz.”
U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros, chosen to serve as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor by the city’s federal judges last summer, welcomed the new rule in a statement to the Sun-Times.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is always grateful that the court is willing to review and improve its local rules for the betterment of the public,” Boutros said. “We know the court has spent meaningful time developing this new local rule, and we appreciate the court’s leadership in this area.”
Boutros has defended his office’s handling of Midway Blitz cases and denied taking marching orders from Washington. Of 32 known defendants charged with federal nonimmigration crimes tied to Midway Blitz, 20 have so far been cleared. Two people have pleaded guilty.
Documents on Chicago’s federal court website show judges began considering the new rule Dec. 18. That was roughly a week after U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling confirmed in open court that a grand jury had refused to hand up an indictment against Laugh Factory night manager Nathan Griffin.
Griffin had been accused of assaulting a U.S. Border Patrol agent by closing a car door on the agent’s leg. While being taken into custody, Griffin allegedly told agents, “I didn’t assault anybody … Shutting a door isn’t a f—ing crime.”
Kendall had agreed to give prosecutors extra time in that case to secure an indictment against Griffin. But a prosecutor wound up telling Holleb Hotaling that the result was a “no bill.”
Holleb Hotaling, a magistrate judge since 2023, told the prosecutor during the hearing, “I’ve never done one of these. It’s new for me.”