Lausch, however, took over in a hyperpartisan era and had to navigate a number of thorny issues, many of which arose from Trumps constant trolling of Chicago on Twitter over issues such as gun violence and immigration. In 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions tapped Lausch to oversee the process of sorting through roughly 880,000 records in part of the House probe into former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons use of a private email server. Alvarez has missed chances to assure voters that she's learned something from this debacle. In the post, DeVore wrote, Lord help us with the window lickers, I mean special children. After the post was widely shared, DeVore filed a libel suit in 2017 against three people, alleging they had falsely accused him of ridiculing children with special needs. Kim Foxx is challenging Anita Alvarez in the March primary race for Cook County state's attorney. June 30, 2022 . An early voting location at the Loop Super Site on June 23, 2022. So financial acumen is a must, and both candidates bring strong money oversight credentials to the race. Thursday night, a few hundred people, mostly Chicago police officers, gathered at Hale Park on the Southwest Side during a vigil for the slain officer. If nothing else, that list should serve as a sobering reminder that dismantling the culture of corruption staining Illinois politics must be a top priority for prosecutors at every echelon of government. He can shoot it., Justin Steele and 6 Chicago Cubs relievers combine for the 1st spring training no-hitter in franchise history, Leah Palmer experiences grand time as Geneva grinds out victory in Class 4A third-place game. COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT- CALLAHAN, JR. That she could explain to them why cooperating with cops and prosecutors in finding and convicting the bad guys can curtail the bloodshed that takes so many of their children's lives.. To our eyes . -Duckworth has received endorsements from the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald. Lauschs exit comes just days before the trial of the so-called ComEd Four gets underway at the Dirksen U.S. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune). Here are the latest endorsements for each of the Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidates. Sean Suiter. A defensive stalwart, Oswego Easts Tyler Jasek surprises Joliet West. The task force is starting to yield results, including an investigation that led to the discovery of more than $1 million in stolen retail merchandise hidden in storage units, Raoul told us. About | Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that owns the Tribune, announced that its nearly 200 papers will no longer endorse major political candidates. She spent 12 years as an assistant state's attorney, mostly in juvenile court, and served as chief of staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.. Even among those who did not support him politically, he engendered trust during some of the darkest hours in the history of this great state. Beyond a polite hello in the elevator, prosecutors should be fiercely independent of politicians, especially those who sign off on their budget. A nominee of Republican President Donald Trump, Lausch was originally asked by the incoming Biden administration to step down from his post in 2021 along with other Trump holdovers. That will mean building connections and trust between people in law enforcement and the impoverished communities where criminals prey on innocents. In the endorsement, the Tribune board called Vallas "a smart, passionate and experienced candidate for mayor who long has specialized in doing precisely that.". Durbin vs. Curran, Black, Malouf and Wilson: 10 questions for the candidates for U.S. Senate. Beyond a polite hello in the elevator, prosecutors should be fiercely independent of politicians, especially those who sign off on their budget. Edward Burke, the bribery probe involving Commonwealth Edison, and the bombshell charges levied against ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan last March. Those who view her actions then from the safe remove of three years and through the hindsight of the charges result are forgetting the real and justified fear that the city would erupt again into rioting if the foolish self-imposed deadline then-police commissioner Anthony Batts had set for completing the investigation into Grays death passed with no move toward accountability for the officers. "We are proud to present this diverse, accomplished slate of candidates as we ramp up for campaign season as a strong, united party organization," said Cook County Democratic Party Chairwoman Toni Preckwinkle. Singling out Vallas' expertise in city financing, policing and education, the Tribune Board felt he was both the most experienced and best positioned to handle the task of leading Chicago. Nine sitting or recent members of the Illinois General Assembly have been charged with federal crimes since 2019. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) Nine sitting or. Under Frerichs, Bright Start has gone from one of the nations worst-rated college savings programs to one of the best it has gotten a Gold rating from independent investment analysis firm Morningstar for five successive years. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. He can shoot it., Justin Steele and 6 Chicago Cubs relievers combine for the 1st spring training no-hitter in franchise history, Leah Palmer experiences grand time as Geneva grinds out victory in Class 4A third-place game. Whenever an act of violence occurs in the neighborhood, he said, he tries to visit the location with churchgoers. He can shoot it., Justin Steele and 6 Chicago Cubs relievers combine for the 1st spring training no-hitter in franchise history, Leah Palmer experiences grand time as Geneva grinds out victory in Class 4A third-place game. Read part two of the Tribunes endorsements for Illinois Senate here. Incumbent Democrat Michael Frerichs has had this job since 2015. She has the integrity and ability to serve the people of Cook County well as their states attorney.. And Foxx would need a deputy who has the gritty experience with criminal law that she lacks. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune). All three were taken into custody and officers recovered two guns in the vicinity, the report said. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to lead the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago, Lausch said in a written statement. Judge O'Malley began her legal career as an assistant state's attorney in Baltimore County, spending a decade in the criminal courts, prosecuting cases involving drug conspiracy, murders,. Foxx talks eagerly and easily about police misconduct cases and whether too many people are in prison. Until Chicago police can show substantive evidence of reform, residents of Black and Latino neighborhoods will continue to harbor deep mistrust of law enforcement, and consequently avoid cooperating with police investigators probing the ceaseless cases of violent crime. Alvarez came under fire amid the Laquan McDonald scandal. The victim and witnesses described the car used in the shooting and its license plate, which police learned was stolen a couple of days earlier, according to a police report included in the police case file. (Yes, its legal.). Dig deeper into the stories and issues animating this year's election from the newsrooms at the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ. Willie Wilson was criticized by the board for some of his controversial statements on the campaign trail, though he was praised for his philanthropy and personal success. (The Baltimore Sun video). And Orland Park constitutional attorney David Shestokas, a former congressional candidate, is back on the campaign trail after arguing alongside Rudy Giuliani in 2020 with false claims that votes in Pennsylvania and beyond were illegitimately counted to prevent former President Donald Trump from winning a second term. I was exhausted., Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Now, however, he tells us he is working to expand the attorney generals jurisdiction over public corruption cases. The results of a referendum that appeared on Niles election ballots on April 6 are being kept under wraps until a legal case concerning the question is resolved. These are Democratic primary elections, except for a Republican race in the 13th subcircuit. Courthouse, which is likely to be the biggest public corruption trial in Chicago since former Gov. Unlike Mayor Rahm Emanuel, she hasn't come to understand that it's not in the public interest to endlessly withhold information about deadly force incidents. In the highly-contested race for Cook County State's Attorney, the Chicago Tribune editorial board endorsed candidate Kim Foxx Friday. In that primary race we endorsed Democrat Kim Foxx, who had spent 12 years as an assistant state's attorney, mostly in juvenile court. In the large field of eight Democratic candidates running for Illinois attorney general, Sharon Fairley has now received the endorsement of both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. The fact that Boiks defense of officer training factored into his termination was also something we had concern about. The Chicago Police Department has repeatedly shown that it needs external oversight to ensure it complies with the consent decree, and were heartened to see Raoul embrace that role. We can do both.. Christopher Pfannkuche will run unopposed on the Republican ticket. CHICAGO Four years ago, Paul Vallas finished toward the bottom of the pack in a crowded race for Chicago mayor. But not his teammates. If we could choose one of the three candidates in this race to prosecute a murder case in a courtroom tomorrow, we'd choose Alvarez for her depth of experience there. But if Foxx is elected, her chief challenge will be persuading crime-ravaged communities to cooperate with law enforcement and curtail the slaughter of so many youths. One of the treasurers core responsibilities is managing Illinois 529 college savings program, known as Bright Start. COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY DEMOCRAT FOXX, KIM (I) REPUBLICANS O'BRIEN, PATRICK 'PAT' LIBERTARIAN DENNEHY, BRIAN DUPAGE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY REPUBLICAN BERLIN, ROBERT "BOB" (I) KANE. I was exhausted., Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. We endorse William Tong as attorney general. Instead, she styles herself as Baltimores chief advocate and prime mover for law enforcement reform, but that job actually belongs to the federal consent decree monitoring team. As the candidates for Cook County state's attorney debated the handling of the Laquan McDonald case before the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board on Feb. 4, 2016, incumbent Anita Alvarez. In this month's Democratic primary, we endorse attorney Ivan Bates. That is not the entirety of this job. Of the Houses 118 seats, 78 feature contested races. But that doesn't mean Alvarez has handled her subsequent role in the case well. He faces bribery charges in connection with the states notorious red-light camera scandal, and has entered a not guilty plea. For this reason, its absurd to see the office of secretary of state through a partisan lens. James A. Haynes. [[Dont miss] Illinois primary 2022: What to know before Tuesdays Election Day], [[Dont miss] See how all the candidates answered our questions plus who the Tribune Editorial Board endorsed], [[Dont miss] Whats an endorsement, and why does the Tribune Editorial Board do them? Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com. I was exhausted., Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. He said he came because he has quite a few police officer friends and wanted to share in their grief. is the right one, indeed the only one, in this election. Should the amendment pass, we anticipate serious negative consequences for the taxpayers of Illinois. You don't think that could happen? Here are our choices for contested races in the court's 15 subcircuits. The November election comes four months after the June 28 primary the quickest turnaround since at least the Great Depression. Kim, who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 2010 and then as gubernatorial candidate Dan Rutherford's lieutenant governor running mate in their losing primary race in 2014 . Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Foxx, a Chicago native, served as an assistant. Before working in . The State's Attorney Office works to uphold public safety through the fair and efficient administration of justice. A rosary is among the items filling a memorial for slain Chicago police Officer Andrs Mauricio Vsquez Lasso along the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue, March 3, 2023. State Sen. Emil Jones III is the latest. During a debate at the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Democratic candidate for Cook County state's attorney Kim Foxx and Republican candidate Christopher Pfannkuche address how the Laquan McDonald case degraded the integrity of theoffice.