City Prosecutions?

If you thought Crimesha was the only authorized party able to charge criminals, you might be mistaken:

• For years, Chicago politicians, police officers, and residents have complained about Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx’s “catch-and-release” policy. Serial shoplifters and carjackers routinely get turned loose after booking and have roamed the streets without apparent consequences. Since October 8, “peaceful protesters” against Israel have joined the chaos. Their ongoing protests throughout the city have led the Democratic National Committee to prepare for disruption both inside and outside of the arena. Concern among Democratic leaders is so great that even Foxx got the message, promising that her office would hold protesters accountable—but only during the DNC.

  Foxx has long followed a noll pross policy for protests that her office deems “peaceful.” Since the George Floyd demonstrations convulsed the city in 2020, Foxx has declined to pursue charges for criminal violations committed during left-wing events. She reinforced that policy in November 2023, when she issued a memo reiterating that anti-Israel protesters should not be prosecuted. Last month, she drew criticism from progressive activists after she told the Chicago Tribune that her office would drop this policy during the DNC.

And then this came out of the woodwork:

• As of last month, Foxx’s years-long amnesty approach was apparently still in effect: the state’s attorney dropped misdemeanor charges against the self-styled “O’Hare 40” on June 4. The nom de guerre refers to 40 anti-Israel protesters arrested for blocking Interstate 90 at O’Hare International Airport on April 14. Predictably, they were released soon after booking. (Meanwhile, Foxx pursued felony assault charges against a man who threw a Big Gulp at her.)

  But now the City of Chicago has thrown a curveball. The city’s law department has pressed misdemeanor charges against the 40 arrestees. It turns out that obstructing traffic violates a city ordinance and can carry jail time. It turns out that the city has its own prosecutors on staff. And it turns out, too, that the citizens of Chicago have not been solely at the mercy of Foxx, their progressive Cook County prosecutor, but city leaders more broadly, who have at their disposal a municipal code that authorizes the city’s law department to bring charges for sundry offenses, several of which carry the possible consequence of imprisonment. Instead of using these tools, Johnson has chosen to allow petty crime to proliferate, degrading the city’s safety and quality of life—all the while allowing the public to believe that Foxx holds sole prosecutorial discretion.

Honestly, it's been years since we saw the city prosecutors at court. We figured they had just turned over all the charging to Crimesha, laid off a bunch of lawyers, with the rest hanging out in "no-work" spots at Corp Counsel. Who knew they still existed (except at Traffic Court)?

Kind of a bad look for Conehead and previous mayors who constantly declined to prosecute petty offenses for years now.