{"id":3581,"date":"2020-08-11T16:15:04","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T16:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chicagocouncil.org\/?p=3581"},"modified":"2020-08-11T16:15:08","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T16:15:08","slug":"081120-chicago-tribune-excellent-news-about-kim-foxx-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chicagocouncil.org\/staging\/1601\/081120-chicago-tribune-excellent-news-about-kim-foxx-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Tribune Reports Excellent News about State\u2019s Attorney Kim Foxx\u2019s Reformist Policies (Even if they Framed it as an Attack)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Both this morning and yesterday, the Chicago Tribune<\/em> published an editorial<\/a> and an analysis<\/a>, respectively, attacking bail reform in Cook County and the State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s (SA) felony dismissal rates. The information published in their report<\/a> on SA Kim Foxx  is well-analyzed, and \u2013 despite the Tribune<\/em>\u2019s best efforts to paint it negatively (and double-down on that criticism in their editorial) \u2013 is an overwhelmingly positive sign that bail reform works<\/a> and that Kim Foxx is delivering on her campaign promises and setting the priorities of her office to focus on public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tribune\u2019s<\/em> own analysis of SA Foxx\u2019s data shows that she is committed to holding police accountable for their conduct, expanding diversion opportunities for non-forcible felonies, and being judicious about whether charging someone with a felony is the appropriate response when that person or crime does not pose a physical threat to anyone.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The job of a prosecutor is not only to win cases, but to fight for justice and community wellbeing. <\/strong>Part of this job is to decide what charges to pursue in the first place; another part is to decide if bringing charges is justified at all<\/em>. Anytime a person is charged with a crime, tremendous amounts of resources are expended to prosecute that alleged offense, and the consequences for that person and their family are great. They may be held in custody, away from their family and unable to work, until the case is completed \u2013 even if they are innocent and it takes months (or years) to prove it. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges must dedicate time and energy to ensure a case is fairly and properly heard. And, of course, much \u2013 if not all \u2013 of that work is funded by local governments who were already struggling before COVID-19 ravaged their budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charging a crime is a hugely consequential decision, and one that must be done thoughtfully. Our criminal legal system is not a cure for the structural racism, predatory capitalism, and other underlying social ills which often fuel delinquent behavior; indeed, data continually shows that \u2013 for many crimes \u2013 prosecution and incarceration actually cause more harm than good <\/em>for individuals, families, and entire communities. In October, 2019, Chicago Appleseed, Chicago Council of Lawyers, The People\u2019s Lobby, and Reclaim Chicago published the perspectives of defense attorneys<\/a> who had worked with both Anita Alvarez and Kim Foxx during their tenures as Cook County State\u2019s Attorneys. During Alvarez\u2019s time in office, defense attorneys reported regularly unreasonable behavior by prosecutors in pushing cases forward where there was little-to-no evidence, seeking convictions even in cases where defendants were clearly innocent. This kind of \u201cwin-at-all-costs,\u201d \u201ctough on crime\u201d mentality by prosecutors has been one of the main drivers of mass incarceration in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The categories of cases\u00a0highlighted in the\u00a0Tribune<\/em>\u2019s August 10 story<\/a>show that SA Foxx is doing exactly what she was elected to do: promote justice in our criminal system and lessen the impact of the system on Chicagoans charged with \u201cnon-violent\u201d crime \u2013 particularly those criminalized for their poverty, mental health and substance abuse issues, or housing instability.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n