‘Common sense’ doesn’t explain City Council, so judge to allow Chicago ‘civics lesson’ for Burke jurors

Finding “the structure of Chicago’s City Council is not inherently understood through common sense,” the federal judge presiding over ex-Ald. Edward M. Burke’s corruption trial said Thursday she’d allow a witness to give jurors a “civics lesson” about City Hall.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall got a preview Tuesday of the potential testimony of Elmhurst University political science professor Constance Mixon, who described Chicago’s City Council members to the judge as “mini-mayors” with a “hyper-local ward focus.”

Prosecutors say Mixon’s testimony about government operations in Chicago will be crucial to helping jurors understand the racketeering case against Burke, who is accused of using his seat on the City Council to steer business to his private law firm.

Burke’s lawyers contend Mixon’s methods are unreliable and seem “to be based on reading the newspaper.” However, they also appear poised to use Mixon’s testimony to question whether Burke was as powerful during the alleged schemes as prosecutors claim, especially when compared to Rahm Emanuel, who was mayor at the time.

The trial is set to begin Monday.

Kendall said Thursday she would allow Mixon to testify. Her ruling came in the form of a 10-page written opinion. In it, Kendall found that Mixon can be relied upon based on her “specialized expertise in the structure and operations” of the City Council from “over 25 years of study, academic research and writing, teaching, and observation.”

“As discussed in the [Tuesday] hearing, most Chicagoans do not know their Alderperson and what ward they live in, and are unfamiliar with city government operations,” Kendall wrote. “It is not a stretch to posit that most jurors, many of whom do not live in the City of Chicago but in the 17 other counties from which this court pulls its jurors, are unfamiliar with the basics of the Chicago City Council.”

Kendall also wrote “the structure of Chicago’s City Council is not inherently understood through common sense; nor does it parallel that of other large municipalities.”

In her ruling, Kendall acknowledged that similar testimony from Dick Simpson, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was blocked in the trial earlier this year of four people convicted of conspiring to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber blocked that testimony out of concern Simpson, a former City Council member, would emphasize the city’s history of corruption.

But Kendall noted Mixon is not expected to provide an opinion or put an “expert gloss” on “conclusions the jurors are capable of seeing for themselves.”

Kendall did put a minor restraint on Mixon’s testimony. During Tuesday’s hearing, Mixon mentioned that Burke has been referred to as the “dean” or “parliamentarian” of the City Council.

Kendall did not find that improper. However, the judge directed prosecutors “not to elicit testimony regarding Burke’s reputation or Professor Mixon’s opinion of that reputation.”