* Donald Trump told Fox News that Chicago’s crime problem was essentially a no-brainer…
On the show, Trump said the Chicago police force does not have “the right people in charge.” […]
“How? By being very much tougher than they are right now. They’re right now not tough. I could tell you this very long and quite boring story. But when I was in Chicago, I got to meet a couple of very top police. I said, ‘How do you stop this? How do you stop this? If you were put in charge — to a specific person — do you think you could stop it?’ He said, ‘Mr. Trump, I’d be able to stop it in one week.’ And I believed him 100 percent,” Trump said. […]
Trump responded: “All I know is this. I went to a top police officer in Chicago, who is not the police chief, and I could see by the way he was dealing with his people, he was a rough, tough guy. They respected him greatly. … He said, ‘Mr. Trump, within one week, we could stop much of this horror show that’s going on.’”
When pressed, Trump said the officer didn’t say exactly how. “No, and I didn’t ask him because I’m not the mayor of Chicago.”
* The Question: What other problems could Chicago solve in “one week” if they just got “very much tougher than they are right now”? Don’t forget to explain!
Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer has notified a federal court that the imprisoned former Illinois governor plans to appeal his 14-year sentence for corruption imposed at a resentencing earlier this month.
Leonard Goodman filed the brief notice with U.S. District Court in Chicago Tuesday informing sentencing Judge James Zagel that the 59-year-old Democrat will appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
An inmate punched a correctional lieutenant at an Illinois prison, sparking an assault that involved six prison employees and five inmates, the prison workers union said Monday.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said four correctional officers and two lieutenants were treated for scratches, bruises and possible concussions suffered in the incident Sunday at the Pontiac Correctional Center. They have all been released from the hospital.
“An inmate just began punching the lieutenant and knocked her to the ground,” said Joe Lewis, a correctional officer at the Pontiac facility in central Illinois and president of AFCSME Local 494. “Then other inmates joined in the assault, injuring the other employees who had come to her assistance.”
The Illinois Department of Corrections has put the facility on lockdown and is investigating. IDOC spokeswoman Nicole Wilson said Monday that the prison will remain on lockdown until the department finishes its investigation. At that time, the department will refer the case to the Livingston County prosecutor, she said.
* From the union…
A troubling culture of inmate violence at Pontiac Correctional Center in Pontiac, Ill. culminated in an assault by multiple inmates on prison staff yesterday afternoon. Four correctional officers and two lieutenants were transported to the local hospital emergency room where they were treated for abrasions, contusions and possible concussions. None suffered life-threatening injuries and all six have now been released from the hospital.
“An inmate just began punching the lieutenant and knocked her to the ground,” said Joe Lewis, a correctional officer at Pontiac CC and president of Local 494 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents employees at the prison. “Then other inmates joined in the assault, injuring the other employees who had come to her assistance.”
Immediately following the incident, Lewis insisted that steps be taken to lock down the correctional facility to ensure the safety of both staff and inmates.
“It’s essential that the facility remain on lockdown until a state tactical team can be brought in to conduct a thorough search of cells and inmates to eliminate any contraband or weapons,” Lewis said.
Pontiac CC is a maximum security correctional facility that houses many of the state’s most dangerous inmates. When the state’s only “super-maximum” facility, Tamms Correctional Center, was closed in 2013, many of its inmates were transferred to Pontiac.
“Since the Tamms’ inmates have been integrated into our general population and allowed unrestricted freedom of movement, there has been a growing level of harassment and violence against correctional employees,” Lewis said.
“Officers have repeatedly had urine and feces thrown on them, been kicked, punched or head-butted, and even stabbed with shanks,” he added. Several of the inmates involved in the most recent incident are believed to have been transferred to Pontiac CC from Tamms CC.
The local union at Pontiac CC had repeatedly called attention to the growing safety issues at the facility—to no avail. Policies and procedures, designed and implemented to keep staff safe in a difficult and dangerous environment, have been ignored or put aside for new practices that, with a very short history to draw from, have proven ineffective and dangerous.
“There have to be consequences for this kind of behavior,” said AFSCME Council 31 Regional Director Eddie Caumiant. “IDOC is allowing these kinds of assaults without any kind of penalty. We believe it is critical that this incident be referred to the local state’s attorney and that criminal charges are filed.”
“Safety must be paramount for all involved,” Caumiant said. “That has to become a priority of the Department of Corrections.”
More here. An informational picket is planned for Friday.
*** UPDATE *** IDOC appears to blame it on the guards…
Officer safety is our first priority. This was a terrible and dangerous incident and we want to thank those DOC employees that quickly responded and brought the situation under control. IDOC will forward the case to the Livingston County State’s Attorney for prosecution once our investigation is complete.
While DOC’s investigation is ongoing, the events that led to this incident do not appear to be the result of a lack of policy or a breakdown in existing policies but rather a failure to follow workplace safety procedures already in place. DOC‘s investigation will include why procedures weren’t followed and how future incidents can be prevented.
Asked Monday to weigh in on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk’s recent characterization of President Barack Obama as the nation’s “drug dealer in chief,” Gov. Bruce Rauner literally threw up his hands.
“I heard something about that,” Rauner said. “I don’t want to comment on that.” […]
“I will say that the senator has been a strong advocate, I think a good advocate, for trying to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power,” Rauner said of Kirk, a Republican ally who helped him win election in 2014. “And I applaud him for that work. And also, I’ll make one other general statement and that is I am strongly, strongly opposed to ransom payments of any type for hostages.”
Pressed to address Kirk’s comment about President Obama more specifically, Rauner repeatedly raised his hands in air as he tried to shrug off the questions.
“I won’t comment on word selection,” he said at one point.
You should really watch the video for the full impact. [Fixed link.]
Tuesday, Aug 23, 2016 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
The State Journal-Register Editorial Board endorsed Independent Map Amendment last week. Here’s what they had to say:
“Hopefully, the Supreme Court will side with the more than half million citizens who signed the petition asking simply that they be given the chance to vote on this idea.
“They’ve had enough.
“Let’s hope the Supreme Court will give them the chance in November to weigh in on how their government works for them, not for those already in office.”
“Maintaining the status quo allows Springfield’s power brokers to manipulate legislative boundaries, which are redrawn every 10 years. Letting politicians do that handiwork allows them to shape districts to influence the outcome of an election. Split up pockets of Republicans, for example. Draw districts to protect incumbents. The system is so rigged that, of this year’s legislative races, nearly two-thirds aren’t even contested.
“That brings us to the Illinois Supreme Court, the last hope for voters to finally get a chance to decide for themselves whether to amend their own constitution.”
Donald Trump’s former campaign manager on Monday night defended the Republican presidential nominee’s pitch to black voters in a heated debate on CNN.
Corey Lewandowski explained on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ why he was all right with Trump delivering his pitch to black voters while speaking to predominantly white crowds in places like Wisconsin.
“As a campaign manager, wouldn’t you want your candidate saying some of these things directly to the people he’s supposedly addressing?” Anderson Cooper asked.
“You know what’s amazing to me, is no one remembers Donald Trump went to go have a rally in Chicago at the university,” responded Lewandoski.
“And do you remember what happened? It was so chaotic, and it was so out of control, Secret Service and the Chicago Police Department told him you could not get in and out of that facility safely, and that rally was canceled. And you showed the footage many times of the individuals who attended that rally. Donald Trump had that rally booked,” Lewandowski said.
“That is a black community. He went to the heart of Chicago to go and give a speech to the University of Chicago in a campus, which is predominantly African-American, to make that argument. And you know what happened? The campus was overrun, and it was not a safe environment,” he said.
* OK, first of all, the rally was at the University of Illinois at Chicago, not the U of C. From the university’s Wikipedia page…
Interim Supt John Escalante confirmed in a press conference that police became aware the event was being cancelled at 6:30pm, adding: “The Chicago Police Department had no role, we were not consulted or provided an opinion as to whether or not the event should be cancelled.
“In fact we did assure the Trump campaign that we had more than adequate resources outside the UIC pavilion and we guaranteed them we could provide save access and exit for Mr Trump.
Two top officials of the Better Government Association resigned this week in a shakeup at the Chicago-based nonprofit investigative news organization and civic watchdog group.
Robert Reed stepped down as director of programming, and Robert Herguth stepped down as director of investigations. Both veteran Chicago journalists joined the BGA in 2010 and oversaw numerous award-winning investigations into corruption, fraud and waste.
Their resignations were prompted by changes in the organization’s structure and revisions in its investigative strategy under Andy Shaw, president and CEO of the BGA.
“Reed and Herguth are outstanding journalists who contributed so much to the BGA’s watchdog work over the past six years,” Shaw said in a statement. “I wish them the best in their future endeavors.”
Investigators, reporters and other staff members of Chicago’s Better Government Association voted unanimously last week to seek representation by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The unionizing move could be seen as a challenge to Andy Shaw, who has headed the nonprofit investigative news organization and civic watchdog group since 2009. It comes just weeks after the resignations of Robert Reed as director of programming and Robert Herguth as director of investigations. Their departures reportedly were prompted by changes in the organization’s structure and revisions in its investigative strategy
Curiously, a leader of the union campaign is Brett Chase, acting director of investigations, who, if he were appointed permanently to that post, would be management. Chase told me Shaw has done a “fabulous job of fund-raising,” while Reed and Herguth “did a fabulous job of investigating.” But with those two gone, and with Shaw indicating he’d like to play a bigger role in the BGA’s investigative work, “I think there’s a conflict,” said Chase. It’s a church-state issue, he explained: ideally, the people who raise the money—that is, Shaw and the board members who open their wallets to him—shouldn’t be speaking to, much less influencing, the people who choose and run the BGA’s investigations.
“Andy did say he thought donors should be heard,” said Chase. “And now he wants to have more say in the operation, and we want to say we believe in the mission, not the personalities.” Shaw’s energy and expansive personality led the BGA back from the brink of death when he took over in 2009 after a career in TV news. But Reed and Herguth led the mission. [Emphasis added.]
Reed and Herguth haven’t commented, likely because of a non-disclosure agreement.
Andy has done a great job of fundraising and generating publicity. I’m the one, after all, who came up with the idea of hiring him.
And as somebody who runs a one-person shop, I know first hand that it’s a constant battle to make sure that advertising and subscriptions don’t influence content. Subscriptions are actually pretty easy. I have subscribers on pretty much every conceivable side of every issue, so I just write what I want and that’s that. Advertisers, however, sometimes think they deserve special treatment, so I try to disavow them of that notion right up front and write what I want. But just this week somebody sent me a pitch e-mail about a story along with a declaration that her group intended to buy a blog ad. I informed her that I don’t do business that way. I don’t think she was trying to be venal, and her group isn’t some massive entity that controls lots of Statehouse votes or anything, but it did make me uncomfortable.
Today, the Thomas More Society filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Chicago over its abortion clinic “bubble zone” ordinance. The law makes it illegal to approach within 8 feet of someone who is walking towards an abortion clinic once they are within 50 feet of the entrance, unless that person consents. This confusing law is being challenged by the Pro-Life Action League and sidewalk counselors who reach out to women who may feel they have no option other than to end their baby’s life. The complaint charges the City, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld with unconstitutionally curtailing the rights of pro-life advocates. A press conference detailing the lawsuit is scheduled at noon (Central) on Tuesday, August 23, 2016, outside of a northside Chicago Planned Parenthood at LaSalle and Division. Speakers include: Thomas More Society Special Counsel Stephen Crampton, Pro-Life Action League Vice-President Ann Scheidler, and sidewalk counselor Veronica Price.
This civil rights action asserts the unconstitutionality of the ‘bubble zone’ law under the First and Fourteenth Amendments both on its face, and as applied by the Chicago Police through selective enforcement owing to a misunderstanding of the law and also prejudice against pro-life counselors, which has caused false arrests and harassment of pro-life counselors and advocates.
“The precious right of free speech — so central to our democracy — is being denied to these individuals on the basis of their pro-life beliefs,” explained Thomas Olp, Senior Counsel at the Thomas More Society. “Pro-life advocates are being singled out and their Constitutional protections are being trampled by Chicago’s ‘bubble zone’ ordinance – a law created solely to discriminate against people who wish to offer abortion-bound women information about alternatives to abortion. No other business or industry is sheltered in this way. Through this law, the mayor and his administration are partnering with abortion vendors to violate the rights of those who wish to reach out to women seeking abortions.”
The court filing document case offers numerous Constitutional violations and other illegal abuses including:
Pro-life advocates being told by a policeman, upon challenging his application of the “bubble zone,” that if he was forced to go get the ordinance from the station he would come back and arrest them.
Police determining and communicating to sidewalk counselors that they were not allowed within 150 feet of an abortion provider’s entrance.
Law enforcement personnel insisting that pro-life advocates could only hand literature to someone who asked for it and deciding that the ordinance prohibited any kind of verbal expression by sidewalk counselors.
Police imposing absolute and illegal buffer zones, telling sidewalk counselors that they were prohibited from approaching within 50 feet of the clinic entrance or with 8 feet of persons heading toward the clinic - even outside of the 50 feet “bubble zone.”
Officers stating that the ordinance banned sidewalk counselors from even standing within 8 feet of anyone approaching the abortion facility door.
The complaint also details several wrongful arrests of pro-life sidewalk counselors under the “bubble zone” ordinance and cites rampant abuse of citizen rights without provocation.
Scheidler rallied the pro-life community, saying, “I feel confident we will prevail in court. Only two years ago, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down a ‘buffer zone’ law in Massachusetts. Now it’s time for Chicago’s unconstitutional ‘bubble zone’ to burst.”
*** UPDATE *** From Planned Parenthood of Illinois…
Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) knows, first hand, the need for bubble zones. These protections help ensure that those giving and seeking health care can safely enter and leave medical facilities, keep entrances open, prevent traffic problems, maintain distance between individuals, minimize physical contact and reduce harassment and intimidation.
“Chicagoans should be able to access health care services without fearing intimidation and harassment,” said Linda Diamond Shapiro, PPIL Interim CEO. “The Chicago Bubble Zone Ordinance enables patients in this city to do just that.”
Chicago’s Health Care Bubble Zone Ordinance ensures that patients and staff have unimpeded access to and from health care facilities. The Bubble Zone Ordinance is part of the City Code regarding disorderly conduct that also provides protections for schools and places of worship. The ordinance protects the free speech rights of protesters while ensuring that patients can exercise their own rights to healthcare.
“As sponsor of this ordinance, I felt it was important to protect a patient’s right to health care while making sure that the rights of others were not infringed,” said former Alderman Vi Daley. “The eight foot bubble allows protestors to be heard while ensuring that a patient can enter a health center without obstructions.”
The first provision of the ordinance is similar in scope to a Colorado law that has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The second part reflects language in the Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), a law that was passed in 1994 and has also been upheld by each of the eight federal appeals courts.
Recently, protestors have started wearing the same color vests as PPIL escorts (volunteers who provide safe passage for patients) with “Parenthood Volunteer” and an icon that looks similar to Planned Parenthood’s logo. This tactic scares and confuses patients as they try to access the health center.
“A bubble zone of eight feet enables staff and patients to go in and out of health centers without being swarmed by protestors,” Shapiro stated. “This small distance can make an enormous difference in keeping entrances accessible and reducing aggressive confrontations.”
The Chicago ordinance allows protestors to continue to express their right to free speech as long as they do not approach within 8 feet of other people who have not given their consent to be approached within the 50 foot buffer zone.
Last year, a woman was shot and killed on 75th and Stewart in Englewood. Most people have that moment when enough is enough. This was Tamar Manasseh’s.
Manasseh lives in Bronzeville, but she grew up in Englewood. Right after the murder, she decided to organize Mothers Against Senseless Killings, or M.A.S.K.
It’s a mom patrol that camps out on the block of 75th and Stewart every summer afternoon into evening as a form of violence resistance. The moms wear hot pink shirts and black hats. R&B and hip hop music blast from speakers. […]
This is Manasseh’s second summer on the block. She said coming out here daily restores her faith in a city that seems besieged by violence.
“This is the most uplifting thing going on in the city right now because you see all this negative stuff over and over again every day,” Manasseh said. “And I see it and I say I left 75th and Stewart and none of that was happening. I was in Englewood and none of that was happening. It really restores your hope in humanity.”
According to police statistics, this summer the block hasn’t seen one shooting, although crime still happens in the area. Manasseh said she has no plans to stop coming out.
But this story doesn’t have a happy ending. Her group has been ordered to move. Go read the rest.
* Gov. Bruce Rauner was asked yesterday what the state was doing about Chicago’s wave of violent crime…
Gov. Rauner: Well, the one thing we have done with our state police is to up the intensity, the manpower– what we call a surge here for a number of months– where we’ve got more state police working our highways. Unfortunately, gang violence is spilling over onto our expressways in Chicago and under the direct jurisdiction of our state police, we are very engaged.
Gov. Rauner (Cont.): We have had a number of involvements in incidents and we are also using the state police with surveillance, undercover drug work and other forms of sophisticated, police support that our state police are providing to the Chicago police and, in fact, other police in districts around the State of Illinois.
Gov. Rauner (Cont.): I’ll also say– I am not ready to really go into detail publicly– but our administration is in conversations with a number of other leaders in public safety in other communities in other states. What have other communities done to reduce their violent crime? Their gang violence?
Gov. Rauner (Cont.): Other communities have taken action—there are different solutions that have been tried. Some have success. Some have had failure. I am a big believer in learning from others, not trying to re-invent the wheel– and listening and learning all the time. That process is well under way and I hope I will be talking with you and many leaders around the State about that in the future.
* The governor was also asked about legislative talks regarding increasing penalties for gun violations…
I don’t want to speculate about any potential future legislation. I think all of our efforts should be thoughtful and strategic. We should assess that together as a state government and policy makers. What makes the most sense to keep people safe, to reduce the crime in our system and help prevent crime in the future by effectively treating- rehabilitating and treating- these offenders and potential offenders who are on the verge of violence or could go down a worse track than they are on. Try to get them off that track and get them on a more productive track.
He repeatedly refused to say too much about the talks on that bill, which is a good thing.
Say what you want about this governor, and we often do, but he is pretty darned good on criminal justice reforms.
* Related…
* Mitchell: A single mom and ex-con, she’s made a difference: “I knew if I was able to sit down with these different politicians and actually talk face-to-face, I knew they would fight on the side of what was right,” Creason told me. “I had a lot of faith that these individuals would understand this was a counterproductive law.” Gov. Bruce Rauner plans to go to Decatur next week to sign the bill.
* Maybe she was afraid the teachers would force her to take another pop quiz…
After a math flub at the Illinois State Fair last week, Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger skipped a scheduled endorsement session with the political arm of the Illinois Education Association, taking her out of the running for the powerful plug.
Munger, who is in a competitive race for reelection in November against City Clerk Susana Mendoza, canceled at the last minute, said Jim Reed, Illinois Education Association’s director of Governmental Affairs.
Munger also didn’t follow through on submitting a questionnaire, which the campaign initially promised. It’s a needed first step in qualifying for IEA political backing. […]
[Reed] said he offered another date and even a phone interview but she could not attend.
Munger wasn’t getting that endorsement. No way, no how. The comptroller’s race is a proxy war between the pro-union Madigan Democrats and the anti-union Rauner Republicans. So, skipping the meeting isn’t really a big deal, although Bruce Rauner did have the stones to attend an IEA endorsement session with Pat Quinn in 2014.
* Sometimes, when I’m tossing and turning late at night, this song pops into my brain and starts playing an endless loop. It’s a song I grew up with from my dad’s 45 collection. Good tune, great groove, but it occasionally torments me…
