So little time.
Last week’s Chicago Tribune Editorial Board assembly, streamed dwell on its web site, was hosted by at the very least a dozen editors and reporters who interviewed the candidates operating for Cook County State’s Attorney within the March 17 Democratic Primary.
Incumbent Kim Foxx is dealing with former 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti, in addition to former prosecutors Bill Conway and Donna More.
It’s a vital assembly for these searching for the newspaper’s endorsement. And a vital one for voters searching for a window into the problems and insurance policies dealing with the county’s high prosecutor.
About half of Monday’s hour-long session have been spent on one man and one case — the notorious Jussie Smollett.
Foxx was inundated with questions from the journalists. Then her opponents piled on.
What occurred with Smollett? Why did you drop the fees in opposition to him? What modified? Why gained’t you clarify? What occurred, what occurred, what occurred?
Thirty minutes on Smollett, then a mere half hour on all the pieces else. Everything, resembling, a considerate, cogent examination of the progress and challenges of the second largest prosecutor’s workplace within the nation.
So little time.
A 12 months in the past, Smollett, an actor on the Fox TV present “Empire,” claimed he was accosted and crushed on a darkish night time in Streeterville by two racist and homophobic attackers.
The story was a nationwide sensation. Chicago police launched an enormous investigation and concluded Smollett faked the entire thing.
Foxx’s workplace charged Smollett with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for submitting a false police report, however later dropped the fees. In return, Smollett agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond and full a neighborhood service project. He didn’t admit guilt and nonetheless gained’t admit that he lied.
We realized {that a} well-connected household pal of Smollett requested Foxx to look into the case, elevating questions on favoritism. That proves, some say, that Foxx practiced a double customary to guard her Hollywood buddies.
Special Prosecutor Dan Webb is investigating her dealing with of the case.
Foxx clearly mishandled the case, as she has acknowledged in quite a few media interviews, her marketing campaign adverts, and repeatedly through the Tribune session.
She can’t go into particulars as a result of it will “jeopardize” Webb’s investigation, she stated.
The reporters harangued on, suggesting she cease “hiding behind Dan Webb.”
I’m not right here to beat up on the competitors. I do know and respect many of those journalists. But there appears to be little time for the victims the state’s lawyer’s workplace serves daily. The overwhelming majority are blacks and Latinos who come from struggling communities on Chicago’s South and West sides. They should address the pernicious, violent crime of their neighborhoods.
Those households may care much less a couple of spoiled celeb who acquired a slap on the hand.
An indicator of Foxx’s tenure is her effort to shift sources away from low-level offenses like shoplifting and as an alternative concentrate on these violent crimes.
“While there may be people that are focused on this one case, we have now led the nation in the vacating of wrongful convictions,” she stated. “Violent crime has gone down because we’ve put our resources in going after gun crimes in some of our hardest-hit neighborhoods.”
Foxx has pushed to have these arrested on minor crimes be launched with out a money bail, to allow them to return to productive lives as they await trial. She has championed the expungement of data for these prosecuted for low-level marijuana possession, to allow them to get jobs.
Her most vocal critics, it appears, are white. They dwell in protected, middle-and upper-class communities. They have little time for the ache.
Send letters to letters@suntimes.com
Follow Laura S. Washington on Twitter @MediaDervish