Illinois Justice Project News Summary
Aug. 27 -- Sept. 2, 2019
CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS - FORUM ON GUN VIOLENCE
"The moment is now," by David Mendell: "Chicago has a unique chance to embrace the methods cities like Los Angeles and New York have used to reduce their gun violence. But the toll mounts, patience is thin, and a new mayor must confront the problem’s deep, defiant roots."
"Hidden costs push price of city's gun violence into the billions," by James Warren: "While calculations differ, the bottom line includes damage to the economy, culture and health of the city, as well as its worldwide brand. Getting it under control won't come cheap either."
"Chicago gives ‘community policing’ another try," by Kari Lydersen: "Through an NYU-designed pilot project, officers aim to rebuild trust and cooperation while bridging a divide with communities."
"Q&A: New deputy mayor says Chicago needs 'all hands' approach to gun violence," by David Mendell: "Susan Lee, who was instrumental in L.A.'s success, says the city needs patience, accountability and sustained investment. She calls a previous lack of resources in Chicago 'astounding.'"
CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS - FORUM ON GUN VIOLENCE -- FORUM IDEAS
"Let's be more honest, human in telling the story of our city's violence," by Alex Kotolwitz: "More empathy and understanding for those involved will make it harder for the rest of us to turn our heads, writes the author of 'There Are No Children Here.'"
"Street outreach helps model a better path, but needs more support," by Napoleon English: "Connecting former gang members and others to at-risk individuals helps de-escalate conflicts. The strategy includes job training and therapy."
"The nature of gangs has changed, so should our gun violence strategy," by Teresa Cordova: "They're now fragmented cliques rarely connected to one another, named after rap lyrics or a slain member. The demolition of public housing and closing of schools contributed to dispersing them."
"Treat the lifelong trauma behind the triggers," by Donald Tyler: "Unless we address chronic stress due to joblessness, instability and violence in at-risk communities, more permanent solutions will remain elusive."
"Peace on the streets requires long-term commitments, and soon," by Sean W. Malinowski: "Chicago needs to laser-focus on collaboration, reform and backing its police to effectively reduce gun violence."
"Chicago shouldn't wait for Congress on gun control," by Nina Vinik: 'Five steps the city and the state can take now include holding gun sellers accountable, better 'crime gun' tracing and stronger partnerships with neighbors."
"Put violence prevention in writing and dedicate enough funds," by Ciera Walker-Chamberlain: "Chicago should hold leaders accountable by passing an ordinance locking in a permanent Office of Violence Prevention."
"Don't downplay the need for force against Chicago's gangs," by Robert Angone: "The mayor's call for more community involvement is laudable, but the city's gangs are still a power that needs a strong response."
ASSAULT WEAPON BAN
NPR: "U.S. Appeals Court In Chicago Again Upholds Laws Banning Assault Weapons"
The Hill: "Court upholds Illinois county's assault weapons ban"
Associated Press by Michael Tarm: "Federal appeals court upholds assault weapons ban in Chicago" . . . "A U.S. appeals court Thursday upheld an assault weapons ban that covers Chicago and the rest of Cook County, Illinois, saying guns rights advocates provided no compelling reason why it should diverge from a previous ruling upholding a similar ban in a Chicago suburb."
Chicago Tribune editorial: "Upholding Cook County’s assault weapons ban" . . . "Whether the Supreme Court will agree with the appellate court’s analysis, or ever consider this case, remains to be seen. In the meantime, people who live or work in Cook County can be grateful that here, at least, the danger of these guns has not been ignored."
NAPERVILLE - COREY WALGREN
Chicago Tribune by Stacy St. Clair: "Family of Naperville teen who took his life after ‘aggressive’ police questioning settles suit against city, school district" . . . "In the two years since their son’s death, Douglas and Maureen Walgren launched Corey’s Goal, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the constitutional rights of minors in school settings and providing education on how disciplinary practices in schools can better support the emotional well-being of students. They also played a key role in the passage of a new law that requires police to make a reasonable effort to have a parent or guardian present when a student is questioned by law enforcement on school grounds in connection with a crime. If a parent or guardian isn’t available, an advocate can be appointed."
Associated Press by Michael Tarm: "Suit settled in teen suicide that led to Illinois law change" . . . "'The Corey Walgren story hits at every single parent’s heart,' Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, who introduced the legislation, said Friday. 'We need to recognize that the brains of young people are not fully developed and they need to be dealt with differently. ... What happened to Corey should never happen again.'"
Chicago Tribune column by Heidi Stevens: "What one psychologist, whose brother died by suicide, wants parents to know about the new law prompted by Naperville boy’s death" . . . "'An adult might be taken in for questioning and think, I’ll hire a lawyer. There’s a process here,’ (clinical psychologist John Duffy) said. 'A teenager doesn’t know that. A teenager might be thinking, I can’t bear to see my mother’s face. I can’t bear the shame.' Which is why this new legislation is so important. And why parents ought to talk to their kids about it. Authority figures, in their zeal to make a point, in an effort to turn a kid into an example, can overstep. This law provides protections for kids, and kids should know about it."
ILLINOIS STATE POLICE TROOPER NICK HOPKINS
Belleville News-Democrat: "Illinois State Police Trooper Nicholas Hopkins’ widow reminds everyone to ‘make time’"
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "'A light in our dark world.' Hundreds remember Trooper Nick Hopkins at funeral"
Metro East Meteor by George Pawlaczyk: "Murdertown: Trooper’s killing one of a multitude in small area of East St. Louis" . . . "Illinois State Police Acting Director Brendan Kelly called the city where Trooper Nicholas J. Hopkins was killed 'the most dangerous corner in the country.' From 2000 to 2018, there have been 485 murders in East St. Louis, giving it the highest murder rate per capita in the country. In 85 percent of the cases where reporters could determine the cause of death from coroner’s records, the murders were committed by guns. Of the 485 murders, 75 percent remained unsolved."
EXPUNGEMENT
Associated Press: "Group to help Chicago clear pot arrests during legalization" . . . " A nonprofit with the technology to analyze criminal records nearly automatically will help the county that includes Chicago clear tens of thousands of convictions for marijuana possession as Illinois gets set to allow the recreational sale of the drug."
Chicago Tribune by Megan Crepeau: "Thousands of weed convictions will be automatically expunged in Cook County: ‘We are righting the wrongs of the past’"
Chicago Sun-Times: "Pot dealers could see records expunged, too, Foxx says as she announces plan to erase thousands of minor convictions"
Cook County State's Attorney's office news release: "Cook County State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx and Code for America announce historic partnership to automatically clear convictions"
Chicago Tribune: "Expunging marijuana convictions: What you need to know"
CLEMENCY
Chicago Tribune: "‘Tears started running down my face,’ deported Army veteran says after Gov. J.B. Pritzker pardons him of felony drug conviction" . . . "Gov. J.B. Pritzker granted clemency Friday to a U.S. Army veteran who was deported to Mexico last year after serving a 7 1/2-year prison sentence for a felony drug conviction."
Chicago Sun-Times: "Pritzker grants clemency to Army veteran deported to Mexico — blasting Trump and Rauner for the ‘unfortunate circumstances’"
ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette by Noelle McGee: "Groundbreaking Building Block program helps inmates rehabilitate, hold each other accountable" . . . "The 112 offenders who live on the wing are held to a higher standard of behavior. They must make their bed every day, complete all homework assignments and follow other rules, or they can’t live on the wing. The program has been so successful that it’s been expanded to three other wings at the Danville facility. And it now serves as a model for other prisons within the Illinois Department of Corrections."
ChicagoTribune by Angie Leventis Lourgos: "Pregnant behind bars: A downstate prison opens a special wing for mothers-to-be and postpartum inmates"
ACLU blog: "Stripped of Their Rights" . . . "The ACLU and the MacArthur Justice Center, along with partner organizations including the Women’s Prison Association, Just Detention International, Uptown People’s Law Center, as well as scholars of gender-based violence, have submitted an amicus brief in support of the women. The brief argues that, in addition to being protected against cruel and unusual punishment, people’s right to be free of government overreach doesn’t end at a prison’s gates. "
CHICAGO VIOLENCE RESPONSE
Chicago Sun-Times: "Chicago mayor, police superintendent announce new plan to track gun offenders" . . . "Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said Thursday they are planning monthly meetings with Cook County, state and federal officials in an effort to share data to better track the city’s worst gun offenders."
Chicago Tribune: "Chicago police launch GunStat to fight gun violence by ‘identifying gaps and closing loopholes’ in justice system" . . . "Under the GunStat initiative, a working group drawn from Chicago police, Cook County sheriff’s and state’s attorney’s offices, the U.S. attorney’s office and other law enforcement agencies will continually examine arrest statistics and outcomes of cases."
Crain's Chicago Business by A.D. Quig: "Lightfoot, Johnson turn to data analysis to combat gun scourge" . . . "Stephanie Kollman, who is policy director of the Children & Family Justice Center at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and has written about criminal justice reform, said it was unclear how the partnership might help prevent violence. She said she was still awaiting the Lightfoot administration's violence prevention plan and funding. 'You have to have a violent crime arrest in order to track how the arrest is handled and processed through the system,' she said. 'So far, there were 962 murders and shootings in the first six months of this year. CPD’s made an arrest in 84 of them, an 8.7 percent arrest rate per incident. I don’t know what tracking that 8.7 percent through prosecution strategies is going to net in terms of intelligence around what’s happening on the street or how it’s meaningful regarding prosecution.'"
Chicago Office of the Mayor news release: "Mayor Lightfoot, Chicago Police Department Launch Citywide GunStat Initiative;
Nationally-recognized model tracks gun offenders to identify trends, strengths and weaknesses within criminal justice system"
Chicago Sun-Times column by Michael Sneed: "Preckwinkle: Lightfoot, top cop not willing to meet about reducing gun violence" . . . "Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle came out swinging on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s claim there has been a lack of communication between the two powerful pols, who are at odds over Chicago gun violence and the way errant young black men are handled in the bond court system."
CHICAGO POLICE
Chicago Sun-Times by Rachel Hinton: "City’s Labor Day weekend crime-fighting strategy: ‘flood the zone’ again"
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin: "Police recruit concussed by baton doesn't have civil rights case" . . . "A police recruit does not have a civil rights claim against the instructor who struck him on the head with a metal baton and gave him a concussion, a federal judge held. In a written opinion Monday, U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. ruled Chicago police officer Bogdan Medenica is shielded from John Ploski’s excessive force claim by qualified immunity."
Chicago Sun-Times: "CPD: 1,000 additional police officers to patrol streets over Labor Day weekend"
Chicago Tribune: "4 homicides tallied in Chicago just 6 hours into September as police release August crime statistics"
Chicago Reader: "How the Chicago Police Department fought — and ultimately lost — its FOIA battle to keep cop names from the public"
DAVID KOSCHMAN
Chicago Sun-Times by Tim Novak: "Cops in Koschman case: Daley’s nephew shouldn’t have been charged" . . . "It’s been more than five years since former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew Richard J. 'R.J.' Vanecko pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of David Koschman. Now, the last cop still facing disciplinary action in the high-profile case is arguing he shouldn’t be punished — and that Daley’s nephew never should have been charged by a special prosecutor."
JUSSIE SMOLLETT
Associated Press: "PR firm: ‘Every iota’ of Smollett claim true; police differ"
Associated Press: "Kim Foxx: Work of Smollett special prosecutor underway"
COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY
Morning Consult commentary by Kim Foxx, Miriam Aroni Krinsky and Bill Lansdowne: "AG Barr Is Wrong: Criminal Justice Reform Is Making Us Safer" . . . "U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr recently delivered a deeply troubling speech to the Fraternal Order of Police that hearkens back to failed “tough on crime” policies of the ‘80s and ‘90s – policies that drove mass incarceration and created deep rifts between communities and our justice system. Barr offered patently false statistics on crime trends and levelled harsh attacks against reform-minded DAs, saying they are setting “predators” loose on America’s streets and endangering communities."
COOK COUNTY SHERIFF
Daily Southtown column by Ted Slowick: "Sheriff’s program helps communities that cannot afford costs of demolishing properties"
U.S. SEN. DICK DURBIN
Washington Post: "Inmate suicides like Jeffrey Epstein’s are increasing — and predictable, senator says" . . . “'I have repeatedly tried to sound the alarm about these ongoing threats to the safety and security of our Federal prison system, only to be ignored by this Administration,' Durbin said in a prepared statement to The Washington Post. 'It is unacceptable that it took the suicide of a notorious inmate to force the Trump Department of Justice to finally pay attention.'”
FELONY MURDER
WTTW, Chicago Tonight: "5 Chicago Teens Charged with Murder Under Controversial Illinois Law"
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette column by Jim Dey: "Tough murder statute meant to serve as crime deterrent" . . . "(Champaign County Circuit Judge Thomas Difanis) said that if he was still state’s attorney and facing a fact situation similar to the one confronted by the state’s attorney in Lake County he might have made a different decision. 'I don’t think I would have charged them with felony murder, but that’s up to the state’s attorney,' Difanis said, predicting that publicity about the case will prompt state legislators to 'make a change in the felony murder rule.'"
COURTS
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette column by Jim Dey: "Trying to avoid shame a risky venture" . . . "Judge Patrick O’Shea beat the rap the first time around — on a technicality. The second time proved to be a tougher nut to crack. The veteran DuPage County jurist was found guilty of violating judicial conduct rules. Now his future as a judge is hanging in the balance."
Rockford Register Star: "Retiring Judge Patrick Yarbrough ‘put his heart and soul’ into helping youths" . . . "Yarbrough is the supervising judge of the Juvenile Division of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court. Nothing is more rewarding to him, he said, than to be approached years later and to be told, 'Thank you. I just graduated. I don’t get into trouble anymore.’ Or, ‘I have a child now. I’ve changed my life.’”
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin: "Veteran ARDC administrators move on" . . . "James J. Grogan and Wendy J. Muchman served 70 years, collectively, at the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission. This summer, the two longtime ARDC attorneys left the agency."
Daily Herald: "Child advocacy groups see dip in funding with new state law" . . . "A major funding gap is looming for some suburban Children's Advocacy Centers in light of new legislation that readjusts court fines and fees across the state."
GUN DEALER LICENSING
Capitol News Illinois: "New gun dealer regulations proposed in Illinois"
CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Chicago Sun-Times: "CPS approves new rules for cops in schools, but concern over ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ remains" . . . "The plan, known as an intergovernmental agreement, laid out which scenarios should — and which should not — involve Chicago police officers stationed in schools, how the officers are selected for different schools and how a school can remove its officers."
DEKALB
Chicago Tribune: "Officials reviewing use of force by DeKalb police after video of weekend arrest" . . . "A DeKalb police officer has been assigned to administrative duties as social media picked up the Facebook video of a weekend arrest that appeared to show an officer holding a man around his neck while another officer used a Taser."
DeKalb Daily Chronicle: "DeKalb officer reassigned pending investigation into Saturday arrest of Aurora man"
DeKalb Daily Chronicle: "DeKalb police release footage from McDowell arrest"
WMAQ-TV: "Video Shows DeKalb Officers Choking, Using Stun Gun on Man During Arrest"
AROUND THE STATE
Illinois Times commentary by Bruce Rushton: "Free Samuel Rosario; Former cop is now a felon"
Southern Illinoisan by Molly Parker: "Union County Democratic Party sues county over board's pick to fill chief prosecutor vacancy"
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