Kim Foxx’s critics gear up to attack her criminal justice reforms

Foxx just threw out 1,000 low-level pot convictions, part of her reform agenda. Critics will attack her record. Voters shouldn’t fall for that.

SHARE Kim Foxx’s critics gear up to attack her criminal justice reforms
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx speaks during a press conference after she filed motions to vacate more than 1,000 low-level cannabis convictions.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx speaks during a press conference after she filed motions to vacate more than 1,000 low-level cannabis convictions.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

She’s daring her critics.

Last week, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx convened a special hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to announce the expungement of more than 1,000 low-level, nonviolent convictions for possession of pot.

On Jan. 1, the sale, possession and use of recreational marijuana will become legal in Illinois. The new state law also requires the expungement of cases of non-violent possession of cannabis in amounts under 30 grams.

“Today’s filings, initiated by Foxx, make it as though these convictions never happened,” the press release declared.

Columnists bug

Columnists


In-depth political coverage, sports analysis, entertainment reviews and cultural commentary.

Foxx forged a partnership with the non-profit Code for America, which uses technology to identify and seal low-level cannabis convictions. Code for America is picking up the cost.

Those convictions, and perhaps more to come, will be permanently removed from criminal records throughout the state. Data from the Illinois State Police show there are 770,000 low-level cannabis convictions on the books, Foxx said. Most are in Cook County.

They are the casualties of America’s so-called War on Drugs, where people caught with possessing even one joint were penalized in ways that reverberated throughout their lives.

Folks convicted of those minor offenses no longer have to worry that those convictions will hold them back when they apply for jobs, housing and college.

“As a prosecutor who has previously prosecuted these cases, we must own our role in the harm we have caused, particularly to communities of color, and we must actively work to play our part in reversing those harms,” Foxx said at a press conference.

While there is little difference in marijuana use across racial lines, African Americans are prosecuted on marijuana charges at four times the rate of whites, according to Foxx.

Foxx has advocated a criminal justice reform agenda that addresses effective, less costly approaches to prosecuting low-level crimes and shifts more of her office’s resources to violent crime.

Foxx faces a tough 2020 reelection bid. She is currently facing three challengers in the March 17 Democratic primary.

She is daring her critics to come after her.

They will. They will trot out tired, fear-mongering claims that her policies will lead to more murder and mayhem.

They will attack her common-sense law enforcement strategies as evidence she is soft on crime.

They will gin up voters who are irate over her office’s mishandling of the Jussie Smollett case. They will suggest that by working out a plea deal with Smollett, her office gave a pass to the African American actor, now infamous for duping Chicago through his cynical victimization ploy.

Smollett is proof, they will exclaim, that Kim Foxx coddles criminals!

Her critics don’t care that leading experts, policy makers and advocates agree the War on Drugs was a misguided policy that created barriers for those who seek to fully contribute to and help grow our economy.

They don’t care that Foxx is part of a national wave of progressive prosecutors who are getting smart on crime — and getting results.

For some, the demonization of people of color in the justice system is the American way. After all, Donald J. Trump won the presidency on a platform that labeled entire racial groups, like immigrants and Muslims, as criminals, killers and animals.

Cook County voters, you are too smart to fall for that.

Laura S. Washington is a Sun-Times columnist and a political analyst for ABC 7.

Follow her on Twitter @MediaDervish

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com

The Latest
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.
The way inflation is measured masks certain costs that add to the prices that consumers pay every day. Not surprisingly, higher costs mean lower consumer confidence, no matter what Americans are told about an improving economy.
With Easter around the corner, chocolate makers and food businesses are feeling the impact of soaring global cocoa prices and it’s also hitting consumers.