A report from researcher at University of Illinois at Chicago and former Chicago alderman Dick Simpson has found (PDF) that Chicago is the most corrupt major city in the U. S.:
Nonetheless, the DOJ statistics show that since the department began collecting the data in 1976, Chicago is the most corrupt federal judicial district in the nation, and that Illinois, on a per capita basis, is the third most corrupt state.
Table 1 shows the rankings of the nation’s top 15 judicial districts, including their major city, by the total number of public corruption convictions. Since 1976, Chicago had a total of 1,770 convictions and an average of 41 per year, Los Angeles had 1,588 and an average of 37, New York/Manhattan had 1,361 and an average of 32 per year, Miami had 1,234 and an average of 29, and Washington D.C. had 1,199 and an average of 28 per year.
I initially intended to title this post “I Demand a Recount” on the basis of its only finding Illinois the third most corrupt state. When I dug further into the report I found that on a per capita basis Illinois is by far the most corrupt state. Both of these findings should surprise no one who pays any attention to the news from Chicago or Illinois.
I have a couple of observations to add. First, the claim made in the report that corruption is spiking cannot be determined using the methodology of this report. All that one can say is that the successful prosecution of corruption in Chicago and Illinois are spiking. I sincerely believe that the successful prosecutions are merely the tip of a filthy iceberg.
Additionally, conspicuous by its absence from the report is any proposal for mending the situation or mitigating the risk of ongoing corruption. It’s blithe to propose that voters just stop voting for corrupt candidates but how? Just to take a single example, no Republican was on the ballot for mayor of Chicago and that’s been the case for some time. We had a choice between two candidates, either of whom was certain just to take her turn at the trough. Chicagoans chose the closest thing to an outsider available which judging by performance was an error. What were we to do?
I think it’s patently obvious that the Illinois Democratic Party is a criminal conspiracy but proving it is another matter. Merely getting such a case into court would probably be impossible. So prosecutors just slowly chip away at the edges while the basic corruption remains.
The solution many erstwhile Illinoisans are seizing is flight. Illinois has greater net population losses than any other state. That solves nothing for those who remain.
Unless you are willing to stipulate that Illinois elections are utterly fraudulent, and that the electorate’s will is always thwarted (which is possible), how do you separate the voters from the corruption? Didn’t they vote for the criminals?
And will the fleeing Illinoians bring corruption to their new homes?
The available choices were all criminals or prospective criminals. What do you propose?
… When I dug further into the report I found that on a per capita basis Illinois is by far the most corrupt state. …
I hate to burst your bubble, but Table 3 proves that of the states, Illinois has a long way to go. Honestly, I applaud Illinois’ effort, but the numbers do not lie. Furthermore, Tables 1 $ 2 are not per capita. How is New Orleans supposed to compete against significantly larger cities?
As usual, numbers lie. What about the dollars per conviction? How is steering a contract to your brother-in-law counted? What about a Senator who becomes a multi-millionaire on a government salary? What about a governor’s wife who is a cattle future’s expert? What about the politician’s book sales? What about a governor’s ability to win tens of thousands at friendly poker games? What about using your business card?
What about retired Generals who are working in the defense industry? What about former politicians who are lobbyists? What about the bureaucratic “revolving door”? What about the FBI agent who does an illegal background check on his neighbor?
Honestly, give me a f*cking break. All politicians are corrupt, and this includes the elected dog catcher. Even if a person goes into politics honestly, they soon begin to believe that they are deserve special treatment.
Is it just me, or does anybody else notice that when a politician from an “honest” city get caught, they are trying to steal the whole pie. In Chicago, New Orleans, Illinois, or Louisiana, you know what you are getting, and usually, the politicians just skim a little off the top.
Finally, many of these the US prosecutors are far from honest. After Louisiana Gov. Edwards was convicted, some of his political enemies reviewed the case, and they agreed that he had been “railroaded”. (Their word not mine.) These were people who “hated his guts”, but the prosecutor had forced witness testimony through intimidation and bankruptcy.
I have little doubt that Gov. Blagojevich was treated any differently, and really, he did not do anything any other politician would not have done. His crime was being blatant and using the phone.
Most of the US is like the Victorians keeping their debauchery behind closed-doors. Whereas, Louisiana and New Orleans are more like the French allowing baudy displays.
That’s certainly my view and I suspect I have more firsthand experience of politicians than anyone else around here to back it up.
To me that means that rules and enforcement are more important than intentions and putative objectives.
His crime was being stupid. He was just a frontman for the party bosses, i.e. Madigan, his father-in-law (Dick Mell), etc.
My objection is not that there is corruption. There will always be corruption. But there’s a big difference between sneaking a fin out of the till and making off with the whole till. Skimming from the surplus vs. absconding with most of the proceeds. I think we’ve reached the “absconding” stage now.
@Dave Schuler
His crime was being stupid. He was just a frontman for the party bosses, i.e. Madigan, his father-in-law (Dick Mell), etc.
So, the party bosses should be in prison, but the justice system has validated their way of doing business.
… sneaking a fin out of the till and making off with the whole till. …
Those are crimes, but using regulations to shake down the owner is legal. In my opinion, the vast majority of corruption is legal, and most people are just fine with it. I prefer good old honest theft.
“The solution many erstwhile Illinoisans are seizing is flight. Illinois has greater net population losses than any other state. That solves nothing for those who remain.”
Exit seems like the most practical solution for those who live there, especially compared to the level of effort required for citizens to force reforms, not to mention the collective action challenges.
As an outsider, the problem seems unsolvable. In my own case, there is nothing I can think of that would convince me to move to Illinois given the problems there. But Illinois isn’t alone in that regard.
The problem with using convictions is that in some states the really corrupt manage to avoid prosecution with their influence. That is the only reason why I think New Jersey isn’t higher on the list. When making plans for our facility in New Jersey the first thing we do is to identify which public official we will need to appease and how to do that.
Steve