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Morning briefing
Thursday, Dec 1, 2022 - Posted by Isabel Miller * Here’s the roundup… * AP | Illinois Dems tighten parts of criminal justice overhaul: More crimes would be added to a list that could disqualify defendants in court from being released while awaiting trial under follow-up legislation to a contentious criminal justice overhaul * Tribune | Illinois lawmakers file amendment in effort to clarify SAFE-T Act’s most controversial elements: It was unclear if the amendment pitched by Peters had enough support to pass both chambers of the General Assembly, but legislators were expected to take up the issue before Thursday’s scheduled adjournment for the year. Under the proposal, defendants charged before Jan. 1 would have the option to remain under the old bail system, or be moved to the new system. * NBC Chicago | Expansive Changes Proposed to Illinois’ SAFE-T Act Just Before New Laws Slated to Begin: The proposed changes to the SAFE-T Act would expand the number of and types of crimes that could keep people in jail as they await trial, among other changes * Crain’s | Pritzker moves to bulk up state’s EV tax incentives: Other provisions would loosen the definition of an EV worker and appear aimed at existing automakers in Illinois, especially Stellantis and Ford. They have huge conventional auto assembly plants in Illinois that could be converted to EV production, but likely only after years of preparation and work. * Northwest Herald | Unemployment fund solution an apparent win-win: On Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker had a press conference to announce plans to resolve the remaining balance. Subject to lawmaker approval, $1.36 billion will directly pay off the outstanding balance and the state will loan $450 million, interest free, to the fund. Over the next decade, the fund can pay back that money, and the state will funnel it to reserve funds. * Crain’s | Billionaires are getting their tax bills, too. Here’s what they owe.: Crain’s took a look at the biggest residential bills in the city for the full tax year. If your tab feels big, take heart: Citadel chief Griffin, by far the biggest residential property taxpayer in the city, is on the hook for a little more than $1.96 million. * Sun-Times | Illinois Dems target assault weapons, age of gun owners in response to Highland Park mass shooting: ‘It really can’t wait’: The measure would ban the sale of assault weapons immediately, prevent sales of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds and raise eligibility for a state firearm owner identification card to 21. * ABC 7 | Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke reflects on her career on last day on bench: “For someone who is dyslexic and dropped out of college and didn’t go back until I was married and had kids, I can’t believe the opportunities that I’ve had,” Burke said. Burke says work to make the courts more accessible and equitable is on the right track but more needs to be done. * Rockford Register Star | US Rep. Cheri Bustos prepares for life after Congress: As she looks back at her time in Congress, Bustos said she was proud to be among the most successful at bringing back money to projects and programs throughout her district. * Tribune | State commemorates Barack Obama’s 2007 presidential announcement with marker at Old State Capitol: The roughly 47–by-44-inch marker, which stands on the southeast corner of the Old Capitol grounds in downtown Springfield, also commemorates Obama’s 2008 announcement that then-Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware would be his running mate. It adds historical resonance to a building most famous as the site of Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech to the 1858 Republican State Convention. * WBEZ | As Mayor Lori Lightfoot runs again, a look at who’s backing her and who’s looking elsewhere: Acree’s endorsement, along with the support of several other prominent figures, helped Lightfoot gain the support she needed within the city’s Black communities — building on the momentum she garnered among white liberal voters along Chicago’s lakefront. Lightfoot will likely seek support from Black community leaders again as she works to build a base among voters on Chicago’s South and West Sides in her 2023 reelection campaign. But Acree is one of many who endorsed Lightfoot in 2019 and is not sure whether he’ll make the same choice again. * Block Club Chicago | Chicago’s Youngest Mayoral Hopeful, Ja’Mal Green, Wants Cops, Not Taxpayers, To Pay For Police Misconduct: “I spent so many years fighting for a better city for the next generation of Chicagoans and hoping that leaders that I’ve met, consulted with and brought forward ideas to would start to understand the real underlying problems,” Green said. “I’m still at a point where all of my life, I cannot name a time where there was a leader in our city that really did the right thing.” * Sun-Times | Ald. Lopez wants probe into Fire owner’s $25K contribution to Mayor Lori Lightfoot: Ald. Ray Lopez says the contribution from billionaire Joe Mansueto “represents a gross & familiar abuse of power.” Chicagoans with disabilities protest plans for the training center on land slated for affordable housing. * ABC 7 | Metra riders closely watching rail strike actions that could affect their service: Six Metra lines could be impacted by a freight rail strike, and riders are carefully watching negotiations and actions by Congress. With so many of the nation’s economy dependent on freight transportation, by some estimates $2 billion a day, a rail strike has the potential to be incredibly disruptive. Congressional action to block a work stoppage is needed to avoid the December 9 deadline. * Slate | Without Abortion, Doctors in Texas Are Forced to Witness Horrible Outcomes: We’re supposed to be able to give patients choices on how to handle high-risk pregnancy complications. A new paper shows what happens when we can’t. * Larry Yellen | After a swastika was sprayed on my parents’ headstone, it seems like hatred toward Jews will remain forever: The Jewish cemetery in my hometown of Waukegan, Illinois is so small that I recognize the names of almost everyone there. Many of them danced at my Bar Mitzvah, or played mahjong with my mother. All of them were members of a thriving Jewish community in Waukegan that has since disappeared. But on the Monday following the recent Veterans’ Day weekend, a new name appeared in the Congregation Am Echod Jewish Cemetery. It was spray-painted onto a headstone. “Kanye was rite.” (sic). * Block Club Chicago | Neighbors Vow To Fight Proposed Black-Owned South Loop Dispensary: Some residents want to block a plan to open a Black-owned dispensary in the South Loop, saying the business would exacerbate crime and traffic. Family Roots is proposing a $650,000 project to convert an old Potbelly’s into a dispensary at 1147 S. Wabash Ave. The proposal received key zoning approval in September but requires signoff from the Zoning Board of Appeals before it’s a done deal. * WJBC | At the state Capitol, the sights and sounds of the season are in full force: The Rotunda of the state Capitol is starting to fill up with holiday displays. So far there is a tree, a Nativity scene, a menorah, and a poster from the secretary of state’s office explaining the First Amendment. If past is prologue, they’ll soon be joined by a poster from the Freedom from Religion Foundation and a sculpture from the Satanic Temple of Illinois. One year there was even a Festivus pole. * Politico | Never mind, Musk says — accusation against Apple was a ‘misunderstanding’: Elon Musk publicly retracted his accusations that Apple had threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store — two days after his claim unleashed a tsunami of Republican attacks and threats of reprisals against the iPhone-maker. In fact, the billionaire said in an unusually cordial tweet late Wednesday it was all just a big mix-up that Apple CEO Tim Cook managed to resolve in a “good conversation.”
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- Sox Fan - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 8:26 am:
The slate article on abortion should be required reading.
- Bothanspied - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 8:34 am:
My coffee isn’t kicking in yet so this may be dumb. Why would a prisoner elect to be considered under the old cash bail system vs the new system?
- Baloneymous - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 8:46 am:
Oops Elon. not ready to play with the big boys just yet.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 8:47 am:
With Chuy and Vallas in this contest this time, who again is the Lightfoot voter?
You look at Lightfoot… and you see who could be the base Lightfoot voter, and I can’t, (and I haven’t been able to for 3 years) put my finger on a voting base for Lightfoot.
I look at Vallas, but I especially look at Chuy… with 11 (until challenges start) candidates running, where does Lightfoot find her voters?
WBEZ puts the idea of “who is where” in one place.
- Arsenal - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:02 am:
==With Chuy and Vallas in this contest this time, who again is the Lightfoot voter?==
Take this for what it’s worth from someone who doesn’t live in Chicago, but I always felt there was a big Protest Vote quality to Lightfoot’s election. For a lot of reasons, I don’t think that’ll be present this time (although it wasn’t evident in 2019 until Burke’s indictment, so who knows). The biggest reason is just that she’s the incumbent. You can’t rage against the machine and then vote for it. As things stand right now, I would imagine that a lot of that “clean up Chicago” vote drifts to other candidates.
Still. Incumbency and a divided opposition are very powerful forces.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:02 am:
===where does Lightfoot find her voters?===
Hers is a shifting coalition and it changes based on who else emerges. I think she will do well along the lakefront, within the gay community and wealthy white voters. I think she has made progress attracting more African American voters too.
But it’s a fragile coalition and it’s far from a majority. Will it be enough to get her to the run off? I think so, but that is far from certain at this point.
- H-W - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:05 am:
With regard to the three articles referencing the SAFE-T Act changes, most of the clarifications are not problematic. Indeed, creating a fund to help State’s Attorneys do their jobs efficiently is a nice addition.
I disagree however with one provision mentioned in two of the three stories (I do not subscribe to the Chicago Tribune).
“Adding to the so-called detention net” - “Crimes that require jail or prison time and not probation.”
That clause still presumes guilt, not innocence. For this reason, I think it an injustice, and immoral.
It says if you might end up in jail, then you are going to jail. In essence, that clause would mean nothing changes at all. Any one arrested for any offense can be sentenced to jail. So in effect, it allows counties to jail suspects because they might be jailed.
Here in McDonough County, a very rural community if 27,000, of which about 7,000 are students attending a State University, this means our WIU students will continue to be jailed initially, and continue to have to post bail to get out of jail, because our police arrest them for all sorts of minor offenses, that judges routinely assign jail time so as to offset the time they initially serve awaiting trial.
In effect, this clause will mean nothing changes in my county. Students will continue to be thrown into jail for minor offenses (some are jailed for walking home from the bars). Judges will continue to find them guilty of being drunk in public and/or jaywalking. Judges will assign jail time equivalent to the time already served so as to justify the fact that they were jailed.
In the end, it means we at WIU are recruiting students in part, to maintain the bars through their patronage, and to fund the jail that detains WIU students when they walk home from the bars, for being drunk.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:07 am:
===In essence, that clause would mean nothing changes at all===
Read the bill, not a TV report.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:12 am:
===there was a big Protest Vote quality to Lightfoot’s election.===
I do think Candidate Lightfoot round beat Msyor Lightfoot… and that’s a big problem for an incumbent Lightfoot who looks very little like the candidate that won 4 years ago? Good stuff. The right thoughts.
I agree, 100% too, to this and where I think it’s at…
===Hers is a shifting coalition and it changes based on who else emerges. I think she will do well along the lakefront, within the gay community and wealthy white voters. I think she has made progress attracting more African American voters too.
But it’s a fragile coalition and it’s far from a majority.===
… and why I asked the open ended question;
If there’s this fragile coalition that can and does exist, and “today” it only can get her to that runoff against… whomever…
… can an incumbent Lightfoot find 50% in a one-on-one, holding that fragile coalition… as her initial ad is “hey, yeah, I made mistakes, but…”?
It’s a fascinating look-see at an incumbent who doesn’t resemble what they ran on, or more pointed “ran as”… what base voter in a fragile coalition can Lightfoot count on… twice?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:24 am:
===an incumbent who doesn’t resemble what they ran on, or more pointed “ran as”===
There’s that. But I also think the people who will vote in the election may be moving away from populism.
The city was doing well four years ago. People felt they could experiment with something new.
To many, the city just doesn’t work now.
And so we might be seeing a shift to wanting management over constant conflict. Tackling problems instead of tackling rivals. Creating successes instead of creating angst.
A candidate with a message of fixing very real, everyday problems instead of fittin’ to fight could end up doing well, IMHO. She’s not that person, although she does appear to have latched onto that message of late.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:29 am:
===what base voter in a fragile coalition can Lightfoot count on… twice?===
Voters who do not want the Democratic Socialists to gain more ground in Chicago. Those voters may be split between candidates now, with Vallas getting a lot of this support by default, but they could rally behind her if she and Chuy emerge in the run off.
Seems to me that Chuy’s campaign understands this and I’d expect him to try to appear as moderate as possible.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:32 am:
===appear as moderate as possible===
That, and competent. And non-threatening.
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:39 am:
===A candidate with a message of fixing very real, everyday problems instead of fittin’ to fight could end up doing well, IMHO. She’s not that person, although she does appear to have latched onto that message of late.===
Agreed. Although I think she’ll get a boost from her response to COVID on the competence issue.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 9:40 am:
===Seems to me that Chuy’s campaign understands this===
This, all day.
If that intro video is any indication, that’s the sweet spot.
=== ===appear as moderate as possible===
That, and competent. And non-threatening.===
People are tired of fighting.
Rauner, Trump, Lightfoot, there has been this constant “battle”… for battling’s own sake.
Competencies and calmness… for an incumbent in these times is huge, and Lightfoot needs that reset.
- H-W - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 10:09 am:
Thanks Rich, for the reminder.
It took a while to find it again, but I read the amended version of Sec. 110-6.1. Denial of pretrial release.
Assuming this is the same section you were thinking about, I see nothing in this section that is problematic. There is one part where the offenses are not specifically listed (5), but in all other cases, the offense for which a person may be required to remain in jail are reasonable.
So my students are safe. Sorry about the emotion work.
- MattB - Thursday, Dec 1, 22 @ 10:22 am:
Concerning the AWB..
“I think there will be attempts to challenge all of these pieces, but the language is based on what has existed and been upheld and withstood legal scrutiny both in Illinois and other states,” Morgan said.“
This is untrue. Bruen clarified the test that should be used to evaluate Second Amendment challenges, and the two step test that has been used in the past to evaluate and uphold AWB is gone. Morgan is referring to bad case law at this point. Assault weapons bans will not survive under Bruen and I wonder if Illinois Dems realize that.