* Background is here if you need it. Click here for the lawsuit. From the lawyer…
Please be advised that this law firm and I have been retained by Mr. Chima Enyia to represent him in connection with the Complaint filed by Paul Vallas and the Vallas Campaign. Please find attached a Press Release from Chima.
As indicated at the conclusion of the Press Release, Chima intends to defend the Vallas claims in court and not in the press, unless Mr. Vallas is prepared to personally and publicly repeat the accusation which he has made in his lawsuit.
Best,
J. Dahl
James E. Dahl
Dahl & Bonadies, LLC
* From Chima Enyia…
The lawsuit filed by Paul Vallas and his campaign is shameful and unfounded. I intend to vigorously defend his lawsuit, my character and my integrity. In the end, I will be vindicated and Vallas’ claims will be seen for what they are — unfounded.
I have known Paul Vallas for years. I regarded him as a trusted friend. He trusted me.
Paul Vallas desperately requested my assistance in the Black Community as a consultant regarding policy development, professional networks, personal relationships, and field support.
Vallas asked me for my help, I provided my help, I billed for my help, the bills for my help were approved, and I have been paid for my help. Each of the bills for my help was approved by both the Campaign Manager, Brian Towne, and by the Campaign Financial Chairman, Peter Jeon. I fulfilled completely my obligations to the campaign. Now after I have provided my help, Vallas wants to claw back my compensation. That is absolutely unfair.
I can assure you that Vallas will not repeat any of the accusations which he has alleged in his lawsuit outside of the courthouse, because he knows that if he makes those statements in public, then I can and will sue him for defamation.
In the end, the voters were right; Paul Vallas did not deserve to be the Mayor of the City of Chicago.
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[The following is a paid advertisement.]
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Early afternoon roundup
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
…Adding… From the comptroller’s office…
Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza announced Monday that Illinois’ total General Funds accounts payable has been paid down to less than $1 billion for the first time in 15 years.
April is generally the state’s best month fiscally as residents and businesses pay taxes. As of Monday morning, the accounts payable stood at $941 million, the lowest it has been since August 2008.
“Over the 6½ years I have been Comptroller, I have looked for every opportunity to steadily pay the state’s unpaid bills from a high of $16.7 billion – as a result of the budget impasse under a former governor – to where we have been for the past year, which has been generally less than $3 billion,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “That included refinancing some debt at a much lower interest rate and seeking out every opportunity for federal matching funds the state used to leave on the table.”
The steady repayment brought the state’s backlog of bills down to around $3 billion before a penny of the federal ARPA stimulus dollars landed in state coffers. The stimulus dollars went to pay the state’s COVID-related expenses, all of which can be tracked on the Comptroller’s website.
“During the impasse, state vendors often had to wait 210 business days to get paid,” Comptroller Mendoza said. “Today, my oldest bill is 16 days old. The state of Illinois is paying faster than the private sector. We’ve been on this shortened payment cycle for more than two years now, proving that Illinois is on a strong path to fiscal stability and predictability.”
* Bond Buyer…
Illinois navigated a rocky market to clear its $2.5 billion general obligation sale Wednesday, paying more on the shorter end than its bonds have been trading, but seeing healthy demand on the long end for the newly stamped-A level rated paper.
The mostly tax-exempt transaction took center stage this week amid a total of $11.5 billion of supply. The state received nearly $12 billion of orders on the sale from more than 130 investors including retail buyers, which the state attributed to being “a direct benefit of stronger ratings in the A category,” Paul Chatalas, capital markets director, said in a statement.
Market participants said the oversubscription came on the long end, which was reflected in the repricing to lower yields there in the final pricing scale. Some earlier maturities struggled and additional concessions were needed, reflecting the market’s current appetites and a correction that’s hammered the front end.
I need to find an AI translator to help me figure out what these stories actually mean. /s
* Good news…
* Missouri political analyst John Hancock on St. Louis’ Fox 2 regarding JB Pritzker and the presidency…
I’ll tell you what he would do from a historical standpoint. He would give William Howard Taft a run for his money.
That comment is basically one step above a common Twitter troll. Difference is, common Twitter trolls don’t get paid for their opinions.
* ComEd Four prosecutor…
But it did continue and Dominguez was never indicted.
* Weighted vote (added back after I cleared up some confusion)…
* Good news at NEIU…
The following is a joint statement from the Northeastern Illinois University Board of Trustees Chairman Jose Rico, Northeastern Illinois University President Gloria J. Gibson, and NEIU UPI President Nancy Matthews, Ph.D.
After a productive bargaining session today, we are pleased to announce that the university has reached a tentative agreement with the faculty union, UPI Local 4100. The union’s members will vote on ratification of the tentative agreement in the coming days, after which further details will be available.
* Press release…
State Rep. Sonya M. Harper, D-Chicago, is inviting citizens and stakeholders alike to the first Illinois Black Farmers & Growers Lobby Day, at the Illinois State Capitol, Wednesday, April 26 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Agriculture is Illinois’ largest industry, and no state has a larger percentage of its land area under cultivation than we do,” Harper said. “And yet, we’ve continued to see that this industry faces widespread inequality in terms of access as well as outcomes for those members of minority communities who are a part of it. That has to change, and that’s why I’m leading the push for new policies aimed at promoting equity in agriculture.”
Throughout her career before and since becoming a legislator, Harper has been one of the strongest proponents in the state for policies to promote equitable and expanded access to healthy foods and for equity in the food and agricultural supply chain.
Wednesday’s event will include breakfast, a meet and greet as well as a press conference. Sponsors include the Black Oaks Center, Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Growing Home, Grow Greater Englewood, Urban Growers Collective, Green Era Campus, Cannabis Equity Illinois, Mia’s Heart Hemp Life and State Innovation Exchange. Lt. Governor Julianna Stratton and Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture Jerry Costello II are also expected to attend.
* Press release…
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias released his First 100 Days report today, highlighting his administration’s accomplishments since taking office in January.
The 16-page report reflects how the new Secretary has pursued an aggressive agenda to improve customer service, enhance services, protect consumers, and upgrade technology.
From implementing a comprehensive Executive Ethics Order on Day One to finding ways to reduce the Time Tax, which decreases the time spent waiting for government services, and from moving to overhaul the office’s archaic technology systems to pushing an aggressive legislative agenda, Giannoulias’ team has made significant strides to improve the lives of Illinois residents.
Click here for the list.
* I wrote up a piece for subscribers this morning on the Vallas lawsuit after spending part of the weekend kicking over rocks. When I finished, I realized I just didn’t care that much. But I do expect more fireworks in the future…
* Elon’s deliberate chaos has ensnared at least one Illinoisan…
* Isabel’s roundup…
* Center Square | Lawmakers could take ‘master class’ on corruption with ‘ComEd 4’ closing arguments set: State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said some changes he sees arising out of the trial is closing lobbying loopholes, making better disclosure on the origins of legislation, bringing reforms to how bills move out of committees, and how witness slips are managed.
* Scott Holland | Is it ever possible to simplify dozens of tax streams?: As of last Aug. 1 the share is 6.16% from individual, trust and estate income taxes and 6.85% of net collections of corporate income tax. CNI said each percentage point increase would divert about $250 million into the LGDF.
* Daily Herald | Arroyo, former jockey and steward, joins Illinois Racing Board: Arroyo was the senior state steward who judged races at Chicago-area tracks for decades, in a career that began in 1965 at age 21 as a groom, hot-walker and exercise boy at Sportsman’s Park. He started as a jockey the next year and competed in the Midwest, East Coast and Florida circuits until 1978.
* Crain’s | Longtime Evanston Hospital leader to retire: Evanston Hospital President Doug Silverstein will retire at the end of 2023 after a long career in Chicago and the hospitals that make up NorthShore University Health System. Silverstein, 65, who attended Northwestern University, first came to Evanston Hospital as a summer intern in 1981. He then spent 10 years at other Chicago health systems before returning to Evanston Hospital as a vice president in 1992, NorthShore said in a statement this morning.
* Yahoo Finance | Bed Bath & Beyond: How stock buybacks undermined the company: Would you believe that Bed and Bath has spent more than $11.7 billion to buy back almost three quarters of its own stock? At an average cost about 15 times the stock’s current price? And that only a couple of months ago, when it was already in desperate financial shape, it kept buying back its shares? (For no rational reason, as far as I can tell.)
* Crain’s | A decade after Rahm Emanuel closed nearly 50 schools, CPS faces a drastically different landscape: The different approaches of then and now have common challenges, including declining enrollments, underutilized schools, scarce resources and ever-present deficits. Families of color and those in low-income communities disproportionately bore the brunt of the Emanuel-era closures, and many say they continue to receive short shrift. Even as CPS enrollment has decreased, the demographic breakdown of students has remained constant. About 47% of students are Latino, 36% are Black and 11% are white. Now is the time to re-evaluate where CPS has been and see where it is — and should be — going.
* Belt Mag | Moses of Cairo (Illinois): As for the real Arabs, most people beyond Cairo had little idea that there were any of us living in Little Egypt, and outside my family, no one knew that I was a descendant of the first generation. Inside my family it was a different story. After school and during summers, I spent a lot time with my Arab grandmother, who moved to Mt. Vernon when I was in grade school. For her, there was no contradiction in being a down-home Arab in Southern Illinois. If she harbored any internalized oppression resulting from anti-Arab and anti-immigrant bias, it was hard to detect. From her retelling of our family’s history, we belonged in Southern Illinois; we were as Saluki as a person could be.
* WPSD | New grocery store set to open in Cairo, Illinois, ending food desert and boosting local economy: People there have lived without it for more than seven years, essentially creating a food desert. That will end soon, because a new co-op grocery is set to open soon called Rise Community Market.
* Statescoop | Maine introduces biometric privacy legislation modeled on Illinois ‘gold standard’: The Maine bill, which would require a written release from an individual before a private entity obtains or uses an individual’s biometric data — prohibit private entities from selling that information — is largely modeled on a 2008 Illinois law that’s considered a gold standard for biometrics privacy.
* NBC Chicago | Northern Lights Could Be Visible Sunday and Monday Night Illinois, Indiana and 28 Other States: NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center tweeted a “full-halo” CME, a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona, occurred Friday, explaining it was likely to cause “minor” to “moderate” geomagnetic storming on Sunday and Monday.
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* Yeah, no…
Last I checked, Bailey wasn’t much of a union guy, and this case was about how Mayor Lightfoot didn’t secure a proper agreement with the city’s labor unions before imposing the mandate…
The ruling came in response to a complaint filed by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, known as AFSCME, and the Coalition of Unionized Public Employees, which represents more than two dozen labor organizations representing city employees.
Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter said Lightfoot, who will leave office in less than a month, unilaterally imposed the vaccine mandate. It is unclear how many employees would be rehired if the ruling stands.
“The right call is collaboration,” said Reiter, adding that the complaint was not prompted by the debate over whether employees should – or should not – be vaccinated against COVID-19. “This is the right decision.”
A decision upholding Lightfoot’s action would have weakened labor rights throughout Illinois, Reiter said.
* The mandate did go to arbitration, but the state board ruled this…
And although the arbitrator found that the imposition of no-pay status for failure to vaccinate did not violate the contract based on an earlier arbitration award, his analysis does not establish that the Charging Parties clearly and unmistakably waived their right to bargain that potential consequence. … Thus, the Charging Parties did not clearly and unmistakably waive the right to bargain the effects of the Respondent’s vaccine mandate and reporting requirement.
* A couple of conclusions…
The Respondent violated Sections 10(a)(4) and (1) of the Act by implementing its vaccination policy without first bargaining over its effects to impasse or agreement.
The Respondent violated Sections 10(a)(4) and (1) of the Act by implementing changes to the sick leave addendum without bargaining to impasse or agreement.
* One of its several cease and desist orders…
Failing and refusing to bargain collectively in good faith with the Charging Parties over the effects of its decision to implement a COVID-19 vaccine mandate and related reporting requirements.
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It’s just a bill
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* WAND…
Hunter Martin wants you to truly hear him. […]
“Whenever I first got these new hearing aids in because of the law that had passed, I heard the ref whistle on the soccer field,” he said. “Without them in, I would miss a good 50, 60, 70 or maybe 80 percent of what you’re saying.”
State lawmakers heard him back in 2018, when he convinced them to pass a law requiring insurance plans to cover hearing aids for kids under 18. Now he’s urging lawmakers to pass another bill to cover people of all ages.
House Bill 2443 has already cleared the House after a push from Rep. Sharon Chung (D - Bloomington) . Now Sen. Dave Koehler (D - Peoria) is taking it up in the senate.
“For anyone who has problems hearing, it becomes a problem engaging whether it’s education, whether it’s society or whether it’s your job,” Koehler said.
* Journal Courier…
Proposed legislation requiring libraries receiving state funding to have a written policy against banning books would change little at west-central Illinois libraries, except for the dotting of a few I’s and crossing of a few T’s, according to librarians.
Like several libraries in the region, Virginia Public Library has no such written policy, but its general practice is not to ban books, library director Rebekah Pentecost said. […]
House Bill 2789 passed, 69-39, on March 22; it would require any libraries receiving or applying for state grants to establish a written policy against book banning. […]
A bill preventing book banning shouldn’t be necessary, said Jake Magnuson, director of Jacksonville Public Library, which has a long history of not banning books.
“We support providing content to all,” Magnuson said. “We are against banning books. I haven’t had any requests. As far as I can tell, it’s not a regular sort of thing. Libraries should have policies in place against book banning. If legislation is necessary to make sure we aren’t (banning books), that’s OK, but I don’t know if legislation is necessary.”
* Rep. Cassidy’s HB3158 that would legalize human composting is now on First Reading in the Senate. The Tribune…
If Cassidy’s legislation gets enough votes in that chamber and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois would become the seventh state in the country to legalize the process. Cassidy has also indicated that she wishes to have her remains go through human composting. […]
State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal, and brought the abortion rights positions of Cassidy and other Democrats into the debate.
“I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie “Soylent Green,” Reick said. “I think we’re going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’” [..]
Katrina Spade runs a full-service funeral home and human composting facility in Seattle. She said she understands that it can take some time for the public to wrap their heads around the idea of human composting.
“To bring up this, this very new idea that forces us to think about our mortality can be quite shocking,” she said. “It’s really important that proponents of natural organic reduction are being careful to couch the process in terms that allow for people to absorb the idea.”
* Daily Herald Editorial Board…
Earlier this month, the state Senate passed a measure sponsored by Republican Sue Rezin of Morris on a 39-13 vote that would lift a 30-year moratorium on construction of nuclear power plants in Illinois. A similar bill sponsored by Arlington Heights Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker, passed in committee on an 18-3 vote and awaits action by the full House.
The politics of nuclear power, once as partisan as any major issue dividing pro-environment Democrats and pro-business Republicans, have undergone a serious transformation since the “China Syndrome” alarms of the 1970s and ’80s. The tipping point? Climate change.
With wind and solar energy options still far from sufficient to replace our reliance on coal, nuclear power has emerged as an available, clean alternative to help make up the difference. It also provides opportunities to replace jobs lost as the state phases out fossil fuels on the way to a legislated goal of 100% carbon-free energy production by 2050.
Rezin, whose bill specifically promotes the use of small “micro” nuclear reactors that can even be installed in existing coal plants, noted in committee that other states have lifted similar bans, recognizing that “advanced nuclear reactors are a potential answer to the reliability and resiliency problem within their energy portfolio.”
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* Tribune…
Under the governing case law, prosecutors do not have to show a specific quid pro quo existed between Madigan and the four defendants, only that there was a corrupt intent to provide the stream of benefits to Madigan in order to win his influence over legislative acts.
After testimony wrapped last week, lawyers for the defendants argued strenuously for instructions to be provided to the jury that would require a more specific nexus between the ComEd legislation and Madigan’s actions.
But Leinenweber stuck largely to his previous rulings that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requires only that the defendants passed gratuities or rewards to the speaker in the hope they would influence Madigan in some official capacity.
“The difference between the regular lobbying and corrupt lobbying is not only the intent to influence, as focused on by defendants, but the action which intends to provide ‘something of value,’ either given or offered, in order to influence the official,” the judge wrote in a ruling last year.
Leinenweber on Thursday acknowledged that the issue of when a gratuity or reward for a public official becomes a bribe is in flux in the federal courts nationwide. But for this trial, the prevailing law is what the appellate court in Chicago has held, he said.
A significant chunk of lobbying could be rendered illegal if “the action which intends to provide ‘something of value,’ either given or offered, in order to influence the official” stands.
* More from the debate…
* Here’s an example of the circuit split from last year…
By embracing a stricter interpretation of a federal bribery law and hardening a circuit court split, the Fifth Circuit’s remand of a Texas real estate developer’s conviction furthers a trend of federal judges narrowing the application of anti-corruption statutes and makes the U.S. Supreme Court more likely to weigh in on the issue again.
A three-judge panel on Tuesday overturned the conviction and eight-year sentence of Ruel Hamilton, a politically connected affordable housing developer in Dallas who was found guilty by a Texas federal court jury in June 2021 of illegally funneling funds to a pair of city council members. The appellate panel reached its decision after concluding the jury was improperly instructed to determine whether Hamilton had paid either bribes or gratuities, with both considered corrupt.
From that opinion…
We conclude that § 666 does, in fact, require a quo; a quid alone will not suffice. And the jury instruction that the district court gave did not convey that. Thus, Hamilton’s convictions must be vacated.
From a footnote…
Lurking just beneath the surface is a hoard of constitutional problems raised by a
broad reading of § 666. See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The
Interpretation of Legal Texts 247 (2012) (“A statute should be interpreted in a way that
avoids placing its constitutionality in doubt.”). Treating § 666 as though it covers all sorts
of interactions with local public officials raises First Amendment, federalism, and due-
process concerns. See McDonnell v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2355 (2016); McCormick v.
United States, 500 U.S. 247 (1991). As one of our colleagues put it, when § 666 is used to “prosecute purely local acts of corruption,” it is arguably unconstitutional because it is not “necessary and proper to carry into execution [Congress’s] spending power.” United States v. Lipscomb, 299 F.3d 303, 364–77 (5th Cir. 2002) (opinion of Smith, J.). We need not reach those issues in this case because we can construe the text in a way that comports with the Constitution.
Dallas Morning News…
With its opinion, the Fifth Circuit is now in the minority, having joined two other circuits in the U.S. that said the federal bribery statute in question criminalizes only quid pro quo bribes and not gratuities. Five other federal circuits have ruled that the law covers both bribes and illegal gratuities.
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Leftward tilt or just following the voters?
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune has a story on the Democratic Party’s “leftward tilt” in Illinois and Chicago…
One major reason Democrats have not fractured so far is the political alternative — Republicans.
People, particularly in the suburbs, who might have once considered themselves moderate Republicans on social issues no longer fit into the narrow cast of what the GOP calls itself now, Mooney said.
And Pritzker said Republicans “have painted themselves into a terrible corner” on social issues.
“We are the party of reproductive rights. There’s nowhere else to go,” he said. “If you are a believer that women’s rights need to be protected, you are a Democrat and should vote for Democrats. If you’re a believer in public safety and protecting our children from being victims of mass shootings at schools, then you are a Democrat and should vote for Democrats.”
It’s also not a top-down phenomenon. Just look at what happened to former longtime state Rep. Mike Zalewski in the 2022 Democratic primary. He didn’t vote for a bill that deleted parental notification of abortion from the statute books and got hammered over it in the Bungalow Belt, even though many of his progressive colleagues endorsed him.
There’s also the Democratic primary win by staunch progressive Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) over establishment, moderate, pro-union appointed Democratic incumbent Eric Mattson.
The best hope Republicans may have now is that the Democratic base pushes the party so far to the left that the GOP can somehow find a way back in. But, every time the Republicans think this has happened (SAFE-T Act, parental notification, cannabis legalization, trans rights, etc.), Illinois voters intervene to remind them that the Republicans are the ones who are way too far out of step. So far, the Democratic base here is clearly much closer to the general electorate than the Republican base.
* And the new reality is even making the Chicago “Illinois Exodus” Tribune take notice…
Although there is no data cataloging these moves, real estate experts said a number of households have relocated to Illinois, or are preparing to relocate, in search of a safer and more welcoming environment for the LGBTQ community.
Roman Patzner, a real estate agent with Fulton Grace Realty in Chicago, said relocation activity picked up after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, ending the constitutional right to an abortion and leaving many in the LGBTQ community worried about whether their same-sex marriage rights would continue to be protected.
“Because you had what was widely viewed as a federally protected right and the rug was pulled out from (under you),” Patzner said of Roe v. Wade. “In the LGBTQ community, everyone viewed that as a problem for marriage equality, federally.” […]
Redfin found that about half of 1,023 survey respondents among people who recently moved to a new metro area favored living in a place where it’s illegal to discriminate based on “gender/sexual orientation,” as of 2021.
I assume that number is higher two years later, now that so many bills have been signed into law in other states.
…Adding… Related…
* The conservative campaign to rewrite child labor laws: That law passed so swiftly and was met with such public outcry that Arkansas officials quickly approved a second measure increasing penalties on violators of the child labor codes the state had just weakened. … It’s one of several conservative groups that have long taken aim at all manner of government regulations or social safety net programs. The FGA is funded by a broad swath of ultraconservative and Republican donors — such as the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation [controlled by Richard Uihlein] and 85 Fund, a nonprofit connected to political operative Leonard Leo — who have similarly supported other conservative policy groups.
* Losing Ballot Issues on Abortion, G.O.P. Now Tries to Keep Them Off the Ballot: The biggest and most immediate fight is in Ohio, where a coalition of abortion rights groups is collecting signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would prohibit the state from banning abortion before a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. That would essentially establish on the state level what Roe did nationwide for five decades. Organizers were confident that the measure would reach the simple majority needed for passage, given polls showing that most Ohioans — like most Americans — support legalized abortion and disapprove of overturning Roe. But Republicans in the state legislature are advancing a ballot amendment of their own that would raise the percentage of votes required to pass future such measures to a 60 percent supermajority. The measure has passed the Ohio Senate and is expected to pass the House this week.
* Alabama education director ousted over teacher training book’s stance on race: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced she replaced her director of early childhood education over the use of a teacher training book, written by a nationally recognized education group, that the Republican governor denounced as teaching “woke concepts” because of language about inclusion and structural racism.
* Florida drag performers balance pain and defiance as anti-LGBTQ+ laws loom: Murders of trans people have doubled over the last four years, according to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. And a study by the Trevor Project found that, last year, 54% of Florida’s trans and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide. From California to Oklahoma to Tennessee, right-wing activists toting AR-15s and firebombs have shut down drag brunches and children’s story hours. Last November, a gunman in Colorado Springs killed five people at a gay club that had hosted drag performances that day.
* In a thriving Michigan county, a community goes to war with itself: Moss and the board’s choice to run the county health department was Nathaniel Kelly, an HVAC service manager with degrees from an online university and no experience working in public health. Kelly, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, had regularly pushed discredited covid treatments, such as the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin.
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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
The now-notorious violent youth riot in downtown Chicago last weekend got me thinking of a press conference way back in 2010.
Mayor Richard M. Daley voiced frustration about what he said were large groups of suburban kids causing trouble on Chicago’s lakefront, even though plenty of Chicago kids were also participating, including six teens who brutally attacked an 18-year-old suburban woman. Daley complained the youths would text each other to organize their mayhem.
Three years later, downtown’s problems with unexpected group violence hadn’t gotten any better. So then-Gov. Pat Quinn held a splashy press conference on Michigan Avenue to sign a bill, sponsored by then-state Sen. Kwame Raoul and then-state Rep. Christian Mitchell, that doubled prison sentences (to six years) for those who use social media to “incite organized mob violence.”
“We don’t want flash mobs harming anyone, anywhere, but especially where many people come from other states, other countries,” Quinn said. Their promised crackdown never materialized. However, that penalty enhancement is still in state law.
Illinois has also had a statute on its books since 1969 known as the Parental Responsibility Law. Parents and guardians can be sued for “actual damages for the willful or malicious acts of such minor which cause injury to a person or property.” Damages are recoverable up to $20,000. The law has only rarely been used.
Ed Yohnka at the Illinois ACLU told me his group was “not aware of a specific constitutional deficiency” with the law and the courts “long have recognized that one can be held responsible for the actions of others based on specific legal relationships, and recognized the authority of state legislatures to make parents responsible for the torts of their minor children.”
Yohnka did say the law was “bad policy,” partly because impoverished parents would be hurt the most. “Many of these families are struggling to make ends meet in communities that lack services and resources that help support strong families.”
The state and the city also spend millions of dollars a year, and plan to spend much more, on violence prevention programs. In the past, violence interrupters have described being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of young people breaking the law during the flash mobs or trends or whatever you want to call them.
Last week, we barely heard from anyone in that sector about how they helped during the weekend violence or how they can help in the future if properly deployed.
In 2019, WBEZ actually went out and talked to some of the kids who were causing some of the disruptions. The young people understandably complained that parks and recreational facilities in their own neighborhoods on the South and West sides were decrepit.
“There is usually vandalism over the swings, over the slides, there is usually broken material … there is trash, and there is a lot of people soliciting,” according to Tyrianna Rodgers, who was on a “girls-only afternoon” in downtown at the time. “It just doesn’t look like the place where you would send your kids and say OK, ‘You could chill here.’” Four years later, many of those facilities are still a disgrace.
The public radio station also reported at the time that Chicago police were bragging about their ability to monitor the online organization of what are now called “trends,” which the station defined as “large teen-led gatherings that are particularly popular among Black teens.”
Yet, CBS 2 reported last week that the Chicago Police Department had no clue how the mob violence was organized. And credible reports have emerged since then about police ignoring calls for assistance.
There are really two points here. The first is all those loud folks pretending the violence is somehow a new and mysterious thing and a fresh test for a mayor-elect who hasn’t even been sworn in yet really ought to take a breath.
The second is that law enforcement and local leaders have been given plenty of legal, investigatory and prevention tools (and there are more than just those listed above) to address these issues, but those leaders appear to be allowing those tools to just rust away in a drawer somewhere.
Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) had it absolutely right when he complained that nobody has a plan to deal with the violence and nobody has had a real plan since he was a teen.
“That has to change!” Buckner rightly roared on social media.
Yes, it does. And it starts with the people in authority doing their actual jobs.
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Open thread
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. What’s going on in Illinois today?…
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Isabel’s morning briefing
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* Here you go!…
* Tribune | LGBTQ residents moving to Illinois from states with conservative agendas: ‘I don’t want to be ashamed of where I live’: That treatment, combined with Nebraska’s current legislative agenda — which includes restricting women’s access to reproductive health care and limiting the rights of the LGBTQ community — helped push Niehaus-Rincon and his husband to relocate to Chicago. He said they are done compromising and hiding their true identities.
* Lakesia Collins and Ann Gillespie | A modest first step for children in Illinois DCFS? Give them a lawyer.: Most people might be surprised to learn that Illinois is just one of seven states that currently don’t guarantee legal counsel for any children in abuse and neglect court proceedings. This is especially disappointing given the fact that at the tail end of the 19th century, Illinois recognized that youths needed to be treated separately in our legal system, creating the very first juvenile court system in the country. While Illinois lags in assuring lawyers in family decisions, every other state has copied the Illinois’ juvenile court, aimed at addressing the unique needs of children.
* WBEZ | This father finally has a safe home for his children. It all came from his arrest on gun charges.: Gonzalez decided he needed a gun for protection while traveling between the gas station and his work. But he had felonies on his record for burglary and driving on a suspended license. That meant he couldn’t get a gun permit. So he reached out to a friend from his former life of crime and bought an illegal handgun.
* Illinois Newsroom | Piatt County wind farm opponents face off against a new state law encouraging their construction.: A new state law, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in January before the election took place, sets new statewide standards for siting wind and solar farms in downstate counties. The new standards set out in the 102nd General Assembly’s House Bill 4122 supersede existing county regulations, and appear to prevent counties from rejecting wind farm projects entirely, from this point on. Illinois Newsroom’s Jim Meadows spoke to Piatt County Board Vice-Chairman Jerry Edwards (R-Dis 1) about what’s going on.
* Daily Chronicle | Student reporter reviews Illinois’ struggling media literacy law: Illinois’ law is in its preliminary stages. It has the potential to be something good, but good things take time. There is still a lot more work needed to be done before it gets to that point. Yet, there is a lot of hope for that, too.
* Tribune | Unreliable CTA service is a frustration for riders. It’s also costing Chicago.: And the struggles cost Chicago, experts said. Challenges getting employees and visitors downtown — including the tens of thousands expected as the city hosts the Democratic National Convention next summer — are a hit to the city’s economic heart, which is still facing lower office occupancy than in 2019 and a hospitality industry recovering from the pandemic.
* Crain’s | Lightfoot offers blunt takes on Chicago crime and corporate equity efforts: Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered some blunt takes at a gathering of Black mayors in Washington, D.C., today, describing some Chicago neighborhoods that still look like they’re smoldering from the 1968 riots, criticizing corporations she said offer mere lip service in response to police brutality and calling out Cook County judges and prosecutors who are too lenient in allowing suspects back on the streets. “I’ve been mayor for the last four years, my time is winding down,” Lightfoot said at the meeting of the African American Mayors Association. “There are parts of my city that look like the fires of ‘68 just got put out. Black people have been representing those areas forever. Why is it that we have taken so long for ourselves to wake up? If we are content with crumbs, our people will never, never prosper.”
* Tribune | Brandon Johnson’s win as mayor furthers Democratic leftward tilt as party examines big tent philosophy: In the end, Johnson succeeded in raising questions in voters’ minds about Vallas’ Democratic bona fides. Still, several older Democrats in the party establishment who are considered more moderate endorsed Vallas. They included former Secretary of State Jesse White and Dick Durbin, the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate. Durbin served with Vallas in Springfield more than 40 years ago in the office of the late Democratic Senate President Philip J. Rock of Oak Park.
* Tribune | Two former Cook County assessor’s employees charged in bribery scheme: Golf outings worth nearly $3,500 were exchanged for property tax reassessments that lowered valuations on two properties by about $81,000, federal prosecutors say.
* SJ-R | What to expect from the cannabis industry in 2023 as two new stores prepare to open: Stone’s new shop is one of three dispensaries slated to open in Springfield later this year, with work beginning recently on the former Steak n’ Shake location in Prairie Crossing for a store run by Bolden Investments III, an LLC based out of Maywood in suburban Chicago and permits being approved for Shangri La, a new dispensary being built out of a vacant lot along Dirksen Parkway.
* SJ-R | Monroe Street to be closed between Second and Pasfield streets Monday: Ongoing work at the Illinois State Capitol complex will require the shutdown of Monroe Street, between Second and Pasfield streets, beginning at 7 a.m. Monday. City officials said the closure will last one day, weather permitting.
* AP | Biden’s 2024 campaign has been hiding in plain sight: “President Biden is delivering and making the strong case for reelection before, during and after any formal campaign announcement,” said Democratic consultant and former Biden spokesman Scott Mulhauser. “Rather than throwing darts at calendars, let’s focus on the President doing his job and doing it well, from an investing in America tour, an economy humming and unemployment at historic lows to a home run of a State of the Union, an expertly pulled-off Ukraine trip and more.”
* USA Today | They were backbenchers under Republican control. Now the Tennessee Three are headed to the White House.: “It was undemocratic when they were expelled and essentially ousted out of their seats,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. “And so, what you’ll see is the president sitting down with the with these three legislators, having a conversation on how to move forward with common sense gun reform.”
* The Atlantic | Dianne Feinstein and the Cult of Indispensability: I understand that acknowledging this may make some uncomfortable. All of us, if we are lucky, face the indignities of aging. In other circumstances, the fact that Feinstein can’t cast votes in the Senate might not be terribly meaningful for the country. But the Senate is evenly divided—and when she is out of pocket, the Democrats can’t prevail on a party-line vote. Because she sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee—and Republicans refuse to let her trade the assignment with a colleague physically fit for the job—Democrats are unable to send any of their nominees to the bench to the floor of the Senate.
* AP | ‘The Champagne of Beers’ leaves French producers frothing: At the request of the trade body defending the interests of houses and growers of the northeastern French sparkling wine, Belgian customs crushed more than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life advertised as such.
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Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
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