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* From the Tribune’s story about Rep. Kelly Cassidy…
[Cara Smith, Cassidy’s former supervisor in Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office] said she also talked to [Rep. Bob Rita], who told her that Cassidy’s opposition was a key hurdle to passing the bill. Smith said Rita commented that if he worked for a politician but didn’t support their initiatives, “I probably wouldn’t have a job.” Smith said she viewed it as Rita “stating his experience.”
“I can’t speak to what Kelly thinks,” Smith said. “I can speak to the fact that she opposes the bill and her opposition was a problem. She has a philosophical difference to the sheriff’s office and a chief sponsor, who was raising that as a significant problem.”
Cassidy worked on social justice initiatives for the office, which were aimed at creating new policies for how detainees were treated. […]
“While I am certain that my role in the office is not the reason the bill is not being advanced, it is very clear that my role has created a handy excuse and weapon to use against both of us,” Cassidy wrote [in her resignation letter]. “I can not bear the idea that my presence in the office might distract from that mission.”
Um, wait. Rep. Cassidy’s opposition was a “key hurdle” to passing the sheriff’s bill? Really?
* The legislation in question would apply the state’s “public indecency” laws to county jails. Sheriff Dart’s jail has had a big problem with inmates exposing themselves in shockingly lewd ways to public defenders, particularly women. So, he turned to the General Assembly for help instead of just fixing the problem himself.
The bill flew out of the Senate, but it was then assigned to the House Judiciary - Criminal Committee.
* As just about everyone at the Statehouse knows, that particular House committee has been a no-fly zone for all penalty enhancement bills this year. Chairman Art Turner has blocked every such bill that’s been assigned to his committee.
Now, think about this for a second. While Rep. Cassidy does oppose Sheriff Dart’s bill, who actually assigned that piece of legislation to Rep. Turner’s committee? Why, House Speaker Michael Madigan, of course. If Madigan wanted the bill to pass, he’d have put it in a different committee, like he did with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s carjacking bill.
And Rep. Turner is no ordinary committee chairman. He’s Madigan’s Deputy Majority Leader.
So, the House Speaker deliberately assigns a bill to a hostile committee where he knows it will die and yet Rep. Cassidy - one of eight Democrats on that panel (including JB Pritzker’s running mate) - is somehow the “key hurdle” here?
Wrong.
If Rep. Cassidy completely flipped and took over sponsorship of that bill today it would still not have a chance in Hades of getting out of Rep. Turner’s committee.
* The sheriff has a real problem at the county jail. He should fix the problem. Blaming others may help him sleep at night, but it doesn’t solve anything - particularly when the blame is so misdirected. If he ever stands up and demands that Speaker Madigan reassign the bill to another committee, well, then maybe he’ll have a point.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:14 am
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I wonder if the #MeToo movement heating up in the waning hours of the session, less than 10 days to go, will result in a budget (or semblance thereof) getting passed and the remainder of session cancelled. I don’t think Mr. Madigan would want members sitting on the floor discussing this issue, especially 9 women legislators who could tip his re-election to Speaker next January.
Comment by Colin O'Scopy Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:21 am
I admit it, I can’t keep up.
Is Dart one of the bad guys in this story — doing Madigan’s dirty work and/or strictly enforcing loyalty to his cause from Cassidy? Or is he a victim…pulled into the middle by the evil Madigan cabal that he has battled for years.
I can’t keep the story straight.
Comment by Anon11 Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:25 am
Things are sure to get tense in the building with 9 days to go.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:26 am
Anon11, if you try thinking above cartoon level, perhaps then you can keep up.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:35 am
Not that Rich needs anyone to speak for him, but I think the point is Dart’s office knew the bill was assigned to a committee that wasn’t likely to move the bill. Cassidy’s opposition didn’t really matter for purposes of passing the bill. The Sheriff’s Office would or should have known that. If they were upset with her for not supporting his legislation, they should say that. Instead they blamed her for holding up the bill when it’s likely she wasn’t the obstacle.
I agree with Anon11 - I’m not sure if I’m supposed to think of Dart as the good guy or the bad guy, but he definitely looks stupid.
Comment by gruffer Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:42 am
Dart’s office can do press hits on dog fighting, cemeteries, human trafficking, Gacy, and look good on 60 Minutes, but they can’t run the jail, keep labor peace, follow workplace rules, or build coalitions around legislation. It’s a patronage hack haven yet he’s a ‘reformer.’ Interesting dichotomies there and the result is the worst of all worlds situation being exposed a teeny bit here.
Comment by Sonny Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:45 am
For the full Madigan experience, perhaps she’ll have some poorly designed mailers directed against her about how she’s protecting criminal’s who expose themselves to their helpless victims.
Comment by TopHatMonocle Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:51 am
Yes, Dart is a political hack and an idiot and his Dept is clueless. The progressive social experiments at the county jail are producing interesting outcomes.
Comment by Temp Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:58 am
If the Madigan crew is so heavy-handed and dumb to go after a female legislator because she’s criticized their handling of a sexual harassment claim, then they deserve all they get — and hard.
The alleged 3D Chessmaster has some explaining to do here, right now. Let the chips fall where they may.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 9:59 am
====Um, wait. Rep. Cassidy’s opposition was a “key hurdle” to passing the sheriff’s bill? Really?====
So it appears Madigan was content to let the bill die in a hostile committee. So this would secure Rep Cassidy’s goal of the bill not passing. But she resigns because she says Madigan’s team is being heavy handed in retaliation.
?? Something doesn’t add up
Comment by Been There Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:10 am
No doubt the assessment from Rich is correct, it does however beg the bigger question why MJM would put in a chair to the House Judiciary - Criminal Committee who
is opposed to increasing penalties for any crimes.
Comment by Texas Red Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:14 am
===Something doesn’t add up ===
Because you’re not doing the math. You’re adding things together that aren’t related.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:19 am
Texas Red - welcome to the General Assembly in 2019. We saved a seat for you. There’s been bipartisan, bicameral push to reduce prison populations for about four years now. Jud Crim is a kill committee these days.
Comment by Conn Smythe Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:25 am
What is Dart to do about the problem without new criminal penalties? Send them to bed without supper? Take their pudding away? Which part of the #metoo movement has a solution for the women effected by the behavior of these inmates?
Comment by Southsider Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:27 am
===What is Dart to do about the problem without new criminal penalties?===
Why, specifically, is there a desperate need for new criminal penalties here and why can’t Dart manage his own jail without them?
The days of running to Springfield to increase penalties for a nice feel-good press pop are over.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:29 am
Here is the bottom line for those who want to blame Cassidy… if Tim Mapes called Cara Smith (former employee of Lisa Madigan) to even talk about Kelly Cassidy’s employment, that’s obvious intimidation. Why would he have any reason to call, other than to intimidate Cassidy?
This is whole thing is disgusting. The Speaker has shown a total inability to deal with this issue. From waiting until a story was going to run to actually fire Quinn, to his weird press conference with his attorney, to appointing an attorney to be the independent counsel whose brothers work with his former political director, to appointing Karen Yarbrough, to this… It’s all awful. The Speaker isn’t ready for 2018.
Comment by Anon Annie Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:31 am
If you a running a jail and can’t figure out how to punish prisoners within that jail, you likely should not be running a jail.
If nothing else I am assuming that exposing yourself to someone is a crime, in a jail or on Michigan Ave. you can work within existing law.
Comment by OneMan Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:36 am
==The days of running to Springfield to increase penalties for a nice feel-good press pop are over.==
I guess the Mayor didn’t get the memo on that. “Carjacking” is the new “repeat gun offenders.”
Comment by charles in charge Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:38 am
===I guess the Mayor didn’t get the memo on that===
Take it up with Madigan. As clearly noted above, he didn’t assign the mayor’s bill to Turner’s committee.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:41 am
== the mayor didn’t get the memo ==
The Speaker is generally helpful to the mayor. The sheriff? Not so much.
Which brings us back to the underlying contradiction in Cassidy’s story. She says she was forced out of her job, but Tom Dart had nothing to do with it. Don’t see how that’s possible.
Comment by Fred Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 10:57 am
Dart has emptied his jail and then tries to blame others when they wreck havoc in the community.
Comment by 44th Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:05 am
The problem could be partially solved by eliminating “good time”, day-for-day credit.
Prisoners are never really worried about losing good time credit because nobody ever tries.
Comment by 33rd Ward Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 11:24 am
Dart’s office is that clueless. And it starts at the top w Tom Dart and Sheriff Cara Smith. Anyone who has had to work in that office, and/or with Cara, will have stories for days about her. Without a doubt, Cara’s fingerprints are all over this…right down to her typical strategy of blaming Madigan or the legislature for her shortcomings. Cara Smith is absolutely toxic to the Sheriff’s office.
Comment by OnPoint Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:16 pm
This will sound a look suck-upish, but this is a really good post. Thanks Rich for going into some detail about the Dart legislation angle. For those who want to question Dart’s cluelessness, you are just choosing to forget that he was in the General Assembly for a decade. He knows how that system works, and his time in the Sheriff’s post proves he knows how to spin spin spin his public image.
Comment by Urban Girl Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 12:20 pm
44th, the unfortunate result of the Prekwinkle, Dart, Foxx triumvirate.
Comment by Ron Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:23 pm
I guess I dont understand how or why Cassidy should be expected to keep a job- one that is related to policy - when she is opposed to a policy position of Dart.
Smith said Mapes called in February? But now suddenly 2 and a half months later there is retaliation? I dont get it.
Seems pretty clear to me she had a policy difference and left.
Comment by low level Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:33 pm
Am shocked, shocked I tell you, that the Rhodes Scholars at the Sheriff’s Office have not been able to figure this and other simple things out.
Comment by I for one... Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:51 pm
Major bravo to Rich for providing educating everyone both thoroughly and succinctly on this as he so often does. There’s a reason this site is tops.
Comment by Also Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 1:52 pm
low level, Cassidy’s official Sheriff’s Office job title was “Administrative Coordinator.” Sounds more clerical than policymaking to me, but I well could be wrong. Look at that CMS fiasco from yesterday. The guy who moves tables in the conference rooms sounded like a real big kahuna on paper.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, May 22, 18 @ 4:01 pm