Zorn Misses the Point

Evidently, we've popped up on Zorn's radar:

• A one-week gap in the timeline of the Sonia Antolec story suggests that Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez is more concerned with currying favor with police officers than standing by her prosecutors when they do the right thing.
  
  Let's review: On July 10, Antolec, a Cook County Juvenile Court prosecutor in the criminal delinquency division, met with the two victims of a "wilding" attack on the CTA Red Line in March and determined that they would be unable to identify any of the eight young women who were that day facing trial. Antolec dropped the charges and made notes to that effect in her daily report to her supervisor.
  
  Seven days passed. Antolec said she was then summoned by her supervisor's supervisor and told that "downtown" was unhappy with the "bad press" her decision was getting.
  
  Alvarez's spokeswoman Sally Daly denies that Antolec was told this. But the only "press" on the decision had been a glancing expression of indignation the day before, July 16, on Second City Cop, an anonymously written blog purporting to speak for rank-and-file Chicago police officers.

We've never purported that Eric. We speak for ourselves and we happen to be cops. We have insight into cops' thoughts by dint of our association and experience. But you keep building that straw man so you can knock him over.

We've also made no secret of our disdain for Anita. She's incompetent, a political tool, a publicity freak and her opinion is shaped by the prevailing wind of the day. This episode is a microcosm of how she runs her office. Anita wants votes and she doesn't care who votes for her. "...currying favor with cops"? Hardly. And not "standing by her prosecutors when they do the right thing"? Did you just get here in town Eric?

• Under the headline "All wilding charges dropped," the blogger relayed "an email we got this weekend" about the disposition of the case and griped, "welcome to justice, Cook County style. Not a consequence of any sort."
  
  The blog mention "perhaps triggered discussion about these cases within and outside of this office," Daly said.

So now we influence the State's Attorney's office? Wow. We shall strive to use this power for the betterment of all mankind. Perhaps Anita might find it in her tiny brain to look into the countless acts of political corruption during her tenure perpetrated by the members of the Stroger, Daley, Burke, Beavers and Preckwinkle clans?

There's a bunch more nonsense and drama. It closes with this:

• Alvarez's office has also fired back that Antolec was actively looking for another job outside the office in the months before she quit.
  
  This happens to be true, though she remains unemployed today. But it's relevant only in that it gave Antolec the courage to walk away and to call attention to the infamous fashion in which Alvarez not only failed to back a member of her team when a cop blogger came huffing and puffing, but also prioritized public relations and protocol over justice.
  
  The buck stops not with Alvarez, but with those way down in the ranks who are generally least able and willing to fight back.
  

Again we ask, which turnip truck did Eric Zorn fall off of? This is Chicago, Cook County, Illinois Anita isn't here to prosecute criminals. She is a political animal, plain and simple, and her main purpose is to forestall investigations of her political sponsors. She exists solely for public relations and its attendant benefits.

As for Sonia Antolec, it's too bad her new job fell through while she made a "principled stand." The economy is rough all over and the massive surplus of lawyers doesn't assist her search. But we didn't call for her resignation, we didn't demand heads roll, we didn't even know her name.  We merely pointed out that Anita's people cannot (or will not) put certain criminals behind bars or even document their criminal acts (which dovetails nicely with Preckwindle's political stance on things if you notice.) It sucks to be Antolec, but we can name almost 50 cops off the top of our heads who took a few days suspensions for minor transgressions (nothing remotely criminal) ranging from accidents to uniform infractions to forgetfulness to procedural errors they were ill-informed of and they all took their medicine without landing in the unemployment line.