Democratic candidates for Cook County state’s attorney made their case to the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board on Wednesday, sparring mildly over their assessment of the county’s outgoing top prosecutor, Kim Foxx.
Foxx has not endorsed either candidate — retired Justice Eileen O’Neill Burke or Clayton Harris III— but Harris has been endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party and Foxx’s political mentor, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
Asked whether the narrative that Foxx was “soft on crime” and more concerned with the rights of the accused than victims was fair, Harris said, “The narrative is real whether it’s fair or unfair.” The next state’s attorney, he said, had to change the perception of how aggressively the office has and will prosecute cases.
“We have to make sure that people know that we take crime seriously, that we’re not living in a lawless society,” Harris said, but pledged to balance “the concerns that people have while still educating them on what’s going on and the results of” ongoing prosecutions.
O’Neill Burke was more blunt. “Having no consequences is not working,” she said, adding that a “palpable fear” of crime is driving people and businesses out of the city. “Chicago should be booming right now, but it’s not.”
While she pledged to use discretion in how harshly to charge certain crimes, O’Neill Burke signaled her office would take a more aggressive public stance on prosecutions of gun possession, carjacking, theft and robbery. “Not prosecuting crime doesn’t deter crime. It encourages crime.”
While she applauded Foxx for her efforts to diversify the ranks and inject restorative justice practices into the office, O’Neill Burke said there is “woeful mismanagement” in the office right now, leading to “a severe morale problem” and “severe attrition.” She blamed understaffing that resulted in overburdened attorneys and slow casework.
While the two largely agreed on the broad strokes of the office’s priorities, O’Neill Burke emphasized her courtroom experience as a key edge over her opponent.
“I worked in the justice system for the last 30 years,” O’Neill Burke said. Having served as a criminal defense attorney, trial court judge and on the state’s Appellate Court, “I know how the justice system works. Mr. Harris is a lovely man, but he hasn’t been in a courtroom for 30 years,” she said.
Harris acknowledged he hadn’t taken a case to trial in decades, but shot back that his opponent’s management and leadership experience is “not on par” with his. His career started in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and wound through City Hall and state government, the Illinois International Port District, academia and corporate lobbying.
“This office is going to require someone who can manage and lead,” Harris said, “someone who is adept at finding resources and bringing them back,” as well as forging relationships with other government offices, elected officials and advocates.
The candidates have split on whether to keep Foxx’s policy to not pursue felony prosecutions of retail thefts unless the stolen goods are worth more than $1,000. O’Neill Burke said she would stick to the lower threshold set by the state, $300.
Harris said he would keep Foxx’s policy in place — which still charges lower-level retail thefts as misdemeanors — but aggressively pursue thefts or robberies involving personal assaults or break-ins and make clear the office is still holding thieves accountable.
Harris held up his cellphone and said if it was stolen “I’d be upset, but I do not believe that someone taking this phone is worth a felony on the record for the rest of their life,” but “I do think they need to be held accountable.”
aquig@chicagotribune.com
