Chicago’s broken, revolving door criminal justice system has led to trouble in paradise between Chicago’s new mayor Lori Lightfoot and her mayoral campaign opponent, County Board Chairwoman Toni Preckwinkle. Meanwhile, as the two powerful women bicker among one another, the bodies continue to pile higher in the Windy City.
John Kass, the well-known Chicago columnist, wrote about the political schism in The Chicago Tribune now that the bickering has become very public.
Here’s the piece from the Tribune:
One big reason Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle are feuding: The broken bond system.
Why can’t Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle just get along and end their feud?
It’s a question being asked by those who are, unfortunately, so tied to their political theory that they drive blind on The Intersectionality Highway.
Both women are Democrats and liberal and African American. And I’m asked as I was on Friday by a nice liberal fellow: Shouldn’t they be able to walk into some sunny meadow, sit on the grass and just settle their differences?
No. Reality doesn’t work that way. Reality has a habit of grabbing political theory by the throat.
And there’s nothing more real for Mayor Lightfoot than dead bodies on the streets of Chicago, mothers and children screaming and residents fleeing her city. That’s what Lightfoot is dealing with.
What is Preckwinkle dealing with? Her politics gone wrong.
The conflict between them is rooted in Preckwinkle’s good intentions paving a road to hell: low bonds for alleged offenders, including some charged with gun crimes, and a broken home electronic monitoring system.
The low bonds and EM programs pushed by Preckwinkle and her protege, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, and, to some extent, by Cook County Chief Judge Tim Evans, have reduced the population of Cook County Jail, saving an estimated $160 million a year.
And Kass tackles the key aspect of the failed policy for Lightfoot.
Though such policy buys support from social justice warriors of the left, it offers no comfort to the victims of crime and their families, or to potential witnesses intimidated by the release of violent men.
In simpler terms, Lightfoot’s now faces more blowback and criticism from dead victims’ families than she does from the social justice warriors. To say nothing of national embarrassment at political functions and the media.
And Cook County Board head Preckwinkle? Thus far, she has faced almost no political heat for prodding the Cook County Sheriff to empty his jails. After all, fewer inmates in custody means more money for Preckwinkle and her political allies’ other pet programs. Each inmate in the Cook County Jail costs her roughly $85 per person per day.
Put another way, getting that inmate out of jail, for whatever reason, saves $31,000 annually. Multiplied by a thousand inmates, that’s a cool $31 million for the cash-strapped county.
The general in-custody inmate population has declined from about 11,000 per day in 2013 to 5927 as of August 12, 2019.
That’s a lot of extra money for Preckwinkle and her friends to spend elsewhere. But at the same time, that’s about 5000 more criminals out on the city’s streets doing exactly what criminals do.
Kass continues with the obvious:
But eventually, a shooting by someone on home monitoring for another gun charge will involve multiple victims. It will again focus national attention on Chicago’s river of violence.
And Preckwinkle and Foxx, each weakened and seeking reelection, will be asked: Is this your Willie Horton moment?
I’m going to steal that “river of violence” line.
Meanwhile, Murder City USA got its moniker the old-fashioned way: It earned it. In this case it earned it’s shockingly high number of murders through the soft-on-crime liberal criminal justice policies that fail, time and time again, when they’re implemented.
I once did research on Chicago’s homicide rate and sent it to my state representative, Roger Eddy.
What i discovered, According to the encyclopedia of Chicago history and a study into Chicago’s homicide rates was, in 1974 and 1994 there were 972 homicides officially in both of those years. There were an additional 700-800 homicides per year in the 20 year period between 1974 -1994.
Historically the Homicide rate was near 600 plus every year after the passage of the FOID card law. Prior to the passage of the FOid card homicide rates were well blow those numbers, suggesting it was the passage of gun control in the city and the state that helped push Chicago’s homicide rate higher.
So while the number of 359 homicides seem horrible The numbers listed are historically low.
I remember when I sent the above information to my state rep I thought it would make a difference in the gun control debate, but nothing happened.
That’s when I realized the issue was not saving lives or deal with the truth but disarming the people.
Chicago doesn’t give a rats rear-end above about people. Government is only about the power of government, the people be damned.
On a side note FEMA was caught confiscating guns on Ocracoke Island after the Hurricane by a group of National guard.
When the Guard troops asked FEMA why they were ransacking peoples homes, FEMA agents pointed their M4’s at the guardsmen and told them they had a right to use lethal force against them (guard) if they stopped FEMA from doing their job.
This upset the Guardsmen so they pointed their rifles at FEMA. After several Minutes FEMA left but only after they (FEMA) looted several homes of guns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfDiw1dcbus
People this has got to stop!
Stupid is as stupid does.
I thought Republicans are to blame for Chitcago’s violence problem. So this must be a bunch of hogwash, right?
Republicans? In Chitcago? Surely you jest ms. lightfoot! No respectable republican would be caught dead in Chitcago! Hogwash full of hog manure, to be sure.
Black people are dying in Chicago and the administration blames us. If we could stop it, we would. Do they really think that if we give up our AR-15’s, that the carnage will stop? They have an “assault wespons ban” already. The courts just upheld it reasoning that it makes people feel “safe.” I would think they would want to BE safe.
“He who gives up (any) freedom for a little safety deserves neither freedom nor safety” Ben Franklin.
They’re bragging on how many guns they’ve gotten off the streets in Chicago But. But. But they’re still shootin up the place. Oh well. I guess they got the wrong guns
The reason why the homicide rate is lower now is two fold. The prevalence of cell phones to call for medical attention and the improvements in the medical capabilities of the paramedics and hospitals. The statistic that should be looked at is how many people are shot each year. Compare the past numbers to today’s numbers. There was a year, 2016 I believe where there were 4000 people shot in Chicago. If there were no cell phones and the level of medical care equaled what existed in 1974, the homicide rate would most likely exceed 1000 each year.