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| Clayton Harris III |
Election night tests a news organization. Lots of races, lots of information pouring in on deadline. The paper asked me to write about the state's attorney match-up, probably the most significant race decided Tuesday night.
Polls closed at 7 pm. My deadline was 7:45 pm. For 15 long minutes, there were no results at all. Then they began to trickle in. I told my editor the column was finished at 7:43 pm.
How did I do it? Of course, as with any magic act, preparation is key. I'd already written what I call "A-matter." A background story that could run as-is if — say through a computer glitch —we never got any results at all. The trick was to quickly update the existing story with the best information we had on hand. Which was frustrating, because while we could see Burke was ahead, a winner still hasn't been officially declared. So we did the best we could with the information at hand, which might be the definition of a newspaper.
Too-fast justice fills the jails and wastes law enforcement resources pursuing petty criminals. Too slow lets the small fish escape to become big fish and leaves law-abiding citizens feeling unprotected against the lash of crime.
The public doesn't like either for very long. Which puts the Cook County state's attorney — the elected official responsible for 700 lawyers prosecuting crimes among a population greater than Ireland's — in a bind.
The public — the estimated 20% who voted anyway — made their choice in the Democratic primary Tuesday, leaning toward tough-talking former Judge Eileen O'Neill Burke, playing for Team Too Fast, over Clayton Harris III, representing the too-slow faction, with half the votes counted.
If elected, Burke would be a pivot away from current two-term State's Attorney Kim Foxx, protege of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who put the brakes on prosecutions, tossing out thousands of cases, declaring the system "inequitable, unfair and totally unjust” and pushing to be more fair ... to accused criminals.
Theft of items worth more than $300 could be handled as a felony, but she more than tripled that threshold to $1,000 which, combined with the post-COVID-19 hollowing out of downtown, and the George Floyd riots, created a sense of a Loop awash in unchecked crime.
That might have been forgiven. But Foxx kneecapped herself in the case of Jussie Smollett, the obscure actor who, in an apparent bid for notoriety, beat himself up in 2019. Foxx botched the prosecution of the case, then botched her handling of the botch.
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Good grief, Harris is even worse than I thought after reading your column.
ReplyDeleteHe said no one should get a felony record for stealing a cellphone?
Some cellphones are now $2000!
Almost all new iPhones are close to $1000.
I voted for Burke, as I'm fed up with not just Foxx, but her equally incompetent predecessor Anita Alvarez, but I have a feeling she was hurt by her last name & there were people who believe she's related to that crooked ex-alderman, who will be sentenced to hopefully a really long federal prison sentence, Eddie Burke!
Well said, Clark St.
DeleteI voted for her, too, though I wasn't as enthused about it as Clark St. and Private evidently are. Something about backing "Team Too Fast," "being supported by rich Republicans such as investment stars at Citadel..." tended to give me pause.
DeleteIn this town, I'd imagine that if folks associated her with the "crooked" Ed Burke, that would have been beneficial! Regardless of that, thwarting "the official backing of the Cook County Democratic Party" is still no small matter.
I'm such a wonder, I happen to know Judge Eileen O'Neill Burke. Was able to convince some family members and friends to vote for her, by telling them about my jury duty experience.
ReplyDeleteGood info, Mr. S.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the "swings" in speeds in the criminal justice system reminds me of the "pendulum theory" of history that I learned about during my sophomore year in high school. We go one direction to an extreme -- too fast justice. Then we turn around and go to the extreme in the other direction -- too slow justice. We can never find a middle speed between the extremes.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you have a 7:30 pm deadline? And why are Tribune sports a joke…..reporting scores and game tidbits a day and a half later? At least the excellent SunTimes sports people get their stories in for the next morning. Maybe they have an 11:00 pm deadline?
ReplyDeleteWhen someone steals what should the punishment be?
ReplyDeleteShould it be based on the class of the person who stole?
Should it be based on the value of the item?
Should it be decided by the wealthy and powerful minority that have the majority of possessions?
If we are talking about equity in regards to a cellphone or sunglasses how bout putting someone in jail for $1000/$15.00 ( minimum wage). So say 65 hrs. But it being a felony with a 3-5 year sentence. How does that make sense? Punish the underclass to the tune of millions in prison? Prison . Different than jail.
Jail is where you await trial if you can't meet bail. Oh they got rid of the bail system . Now only the worst of the accused stay in jail . Petty criminals go home with an ankle bracelet and a trial date.
People are granted their constitutional rights.
As they should be.
Innocent til proven guilty. The right to a speedy trial. The right to face their accuser. No cruel and unusual punishment.
Making the punishment usual doesn't make it uncruel
The unrich stealing from the rich gets everyone's panties in a knot .
Eat the rich!
I hope Harris wins
I wish you all to be unrich one day and unwhite. See how you like it
If you read the CWB Chicago site, as I do every morning, the idiot judges are sending people home on an ankle bracelet, people arrested illegally possessing a gun on them, on the street & even some that have used a gun in an armed robbery!
DeleteThat's a petty criminal.
Anyone caught with a gun, who doesn't have a valid Concealed Carry License, should be remanded to the jail & if convicted get a mandatory 10 year sentence for the first offense & a 25 year sentence for a second offense. A third offense would be life, without any possibility of parole, commutation or pardon! The only way to safe streets is to get the guns out of the criminal's hands!
And FME, I sincerely hope you never have to face a guy pointing a gun at you on the street & demanding your wallet, keys & phone! Because if that happens, you will change your tune faster than you can say, I surrender!
I might halfway agree with you, Clark St, if Concealed Carry Licenses were awarded only to people who genuinely needed to be armed, such as police and security people, or if they were given out irrespective of a person's record, but only to those who had passed a gun safety course. Otherwise, you're going to be sending grandmas to jail for life for packing a little pistol in their purses.
Deletejohn
I agree Clark st. People who misuse firearms should serve serious time. After they are convicted.
DeletePeople who shoot other people even longer. And should not be released while awaiting trial.
This is entirely different from theft of a cell phone or sunglasses.
I've had been robbed at gunpoint . Had guns pointed at me and threatened with death. Discharged a firearm during a home invasion.
Have you?
Stealing my $1200.00 cellphone not only costs me the $1200.00 but the vital information stored on the phone. The theft also robs me of my sense of safety in a city that I love, FME! I have been robbed at the point of a large butcher knife, and worse! There is justice in the middle and that's why I am a moderate progressive! Hoping for Judge Burke's success!
Delete...(Foxx) then botched her handling of the botch...!
ReplyDeleteLove it
one little factoid i would point out to everyone. just. look at the large numbers for harris in the Black community. i'd say that serves as a powerful statement of just how distrustful that community is of a return to a "law and order" pov in that office. if ms. burke manages to hold her narrow lead, i would hope that she doesn't ignore that well deserved skepticism on their part and does not become in thrall to the largely nasty little people who pumped truckloads of cash into her campaign.
ReplyDelete