At the Chicago Tribune reporter/columnist Eric Zorn predicts that the Cook County States Attorney will lose her job over her handling of the Jussie Smollett matter:
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx probably will and arguably should lose her job next year over her office’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case.
Yes, there are many worse crimes committed every day in Chicago than staging a hate-inspired attack and filing a false police report about it — the offense with which Smollett was charged. And no, justice did not demand that Smollett be shackled and shipped off to prison for allegedly orchestrating a stunt.
But justice demanded resolution and accountability. And Foxx appeared oblivious to this imperative as she made the media rounds attempting to explain why her office sent Smollett on his merry way Tuesday morning without extracting an admission of guilt or collecting a meaningful fine.
Her tone-deaf statements included equating Smollett to the raft of no-name, low-level, nonviolent offenders who have received the “go and sin no more†treatment, and patronizing those who are outraged by the outcome as “people who don’t understand the intricacies of the justice system.â€
Read the whole thing. My concern is that Mr. Smollett will sue the county and/or the city and we’ll be compelled to cough up millions we don’t have to protect Ms. Foxx’s and County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s behinds. Misfeasance, malfeasance, and nonfeasance by Cook County elected officials really needs to end. Or at least slow down a little. Right now it’s accelerating.
The whole thing continues to amaze me.
Tribune columnist John Kass insists that the entire thing is some kind of infighting between Rahm Emanuel and Toni Preckwinkle. My own opinion is that neither Ms. Foxx nor Ms. Preckwinkle are particularly bright.
This was the interesting part to me from Kass:
“And then came that panicky email Foxx’s office sent out, asking prosecutors for ‘examples of cases, felony preferable, where we, in exercising our discretion, have entered into verbal agreements with defense attorneys to dismiss charges against an offender if certain conditions were met, such as the payment of restitution, completion of community service, etc. but the defendant was not placed in a formal diversion program.'”
The prosecutor’s claim there was “was an alternative disposition in this case” implied the crime was enforced through alternative measures, not simply dismissed. The following is a link to formal diversion programs that seem to be pretty thorough. The key is that they require the defendant to do something to earn the reprieve over a period of time. The one most likely to apply here would be the Offender Initiative Program, which places the prosecution on hold, and upon completion of the program (minimum of 12 months), the case is dismissed.
https://johnprior.attorney/criminal-offenses/alternative-dispositions/
As I say, what concerns me is the dismissal seemingly without an admission of guilt. That would seem to leave the city and county open to civil suit. To me that’s unconscionable.
Been busy. Haven’t been following closely. But hearing Smollett way, way too close to K Harris….and then follow the dots. Harris saw an issue, got caught, phone calls made….
Maybe just jive.
The rumour that the wife of former President Barack Obama started on a Fox News Sean Hannity segment, and has since snowballed. Right up to the point where Michelle’s former aide has confirmed sending text messages to the State Attorney prior to the Smollett charges being dropped.
Tina Tchen, a Chicago attorney and former Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama, issued a statement defending her decision to intervene in the Jussie Smollett case, saying:
“I know members of the Smollett family based on prior work together. Shortly after Mr. Smollett reported he was attacked, as a family friend, I contacted Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who I also know from prior work together.â€
Note that Tchen, like some biased news outlets, continue to refer to Smollett as the victim. This perpetuation of the victimhood narrative may be one of the reasons behind the staged attack in the first place, as the demand for bad, white Trump supporters outweighs the supply.
Tchen continued in her statement to the press:
“My sole activity was to put the chief prosecutor in the case in touch with an alleged victim’s family who had concerns about how the investigation was being characterized in public.â€
Turns out, this Smollett, he’s a Somebody.