Low Bails - Again

Kass is taking a page out of the CWB blog and questioning low bails for particularly violent crimes:

• Even in a city numbed by never-ending murders and shootings, every so often a crime story breaks through and grabs your attention. Like what happened the other night in the far north suburbs, the old man with a gun, a 14-year-old shot dead, a high-speed chase and now five other teens charged with murder.
  
  But there are many other crimes that don’t break through. Like the young teacher who was stalked and robbed in Lincoln Park last week at one o’clock in the afternoon as she walked to school. She was almost dragged into an alley but fought her robber off, then was slammed violently to the ground. Her alleged attacker reportedly told police he’d hoped to steal her phone and make $100.
  
  And, as Chicago political irony would have it, that’s all he had to put up to walk free on bond on a robbery charge. One hundred bucks, cheap at the price.

This story repeats itself dozens of times a week and could benefit from the attention that Kass could bring to it. Look at this article from the CWB blog about assorted gun offenders (we'll sample a bit - go read it all at the link):

• A North Side man posted just $500 to get out of jail after police allegedly found five six firearms, explosive bullets, a silencer, and anabolic steroids during a raid last week.
  
  [...] Judge Arthur Willis set bail at $5,000 and Mather went free by posting a 10% deposit bond of $500.
• A man who was charged with six felony gun counts in connection with an incident outside a River North nightclub last autumn has reached a sweet plea deal.
  
  [...] Sam Jimenez Jr approached a group of people outside a nightclub on the 300 block of West Huron and struck a man in the face with a handgun on Halloween night. During a struggle for control of the gun, Jimenez “discharged the weapon several times,” the CPD statement said. [...]
  
  [...] But prosecutors this month reached a plea agreement with the 22-year-old in which he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of reckless conduct. Prosecutors dropped all of the weapons charges, and Judge Earl Hoffenberg sentenced Jimenez to a year of court supervision.
• An Elgin man who was charged with bringing a loaded handgun to North Avenue Beach on Memorial Day weekend last year has also reached a favorable plea agreement with prosecutors.
  
  [William] Cage was charged with two felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. But prosecutors agreed to drop both felony counts and allowed him to plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge of carrying a firearm. Judge Mary Margaret Brosnahan approved the deal and sentenced Cage to a year of misdemeanor probation and 30 hours of community service.

It certainly pays to be a gun offender in Cook County at the mercy of bought-and-paid for Crimesha Foxxx.