Eileen O’Neill Burke, Cook County State’s Attorney

In January 2024, Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ editors emailed a questionnaire to both candidates in the contested March 19 Democratic primary race for Cook County State’s Attorney, requesting biographical information as well as their views on several issues. Answers have been lightly edited for typos, minor grammar and consistency in styling, but not for content or length. Age was calculated as of Feb. 6, 2024.

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By Tony Arnold | WBEZ

 

Eileen O’Neill Burke: The Safety Act fundamentally changes how we determine whether someone should be detained pre-trial. Rather than setting a higher bond based on the seriousness of the offense, we now focus on whether someone is a danger to the community or not. This is where the criterion for detention should focus. Wealth should not determine whether or not one is held pretrial.

The SAFE-T Act also significantly alters the State’s Attorney’s role in detention. Prior to anyone being detained, the State’s Attorney is now required to file a petition to detain. Without that petition being filed, Judges have no discretion to detain. It does not matter what the crime is, without that petition filed, any charged individual would have to be released. Because of this significant change in the power of the State’s Attorney’s office in pre-trial detention, it is exponentially more important that there are training, structure, and criteria in place for those ASAs assigned to bond court.

Eileen O’Neill Burke: I am dedicated to the pursuit of justice as I have been my entire career. If our community does not trust that our office is upholding justice, then they won’t work with us to keep people safe.

I will maintain a conviction integrity unit that works closely with our training curriculum to ensure that all cases going forward and cases that were under our jurisdiction in the past are held to the highest standards in the country. Conviction Integrity, Post-Conviction, and Appeals should be placed together in one division so that they can combine efforts, resources, and personnel in the most efficient and effective way.

Eileen O’Neill Burke: When I became a State’s Attorney in 1991, there were 2,300 applications for 50 jobs. Today, the office is woefully understaffed. No one ever went to the State’s Attorney’s office to make money. Young lawyers went there for the training and the experience.

My goal is to create the gold standard for training in a prosecutor’s office. I will recruit other retired judges to establish The Education Unit, where we will have a curriculum for each and every level at the SAO where we will study the Constitution, and the case law and develop the courtroom skills necessary to be effective at our jobs. This will be like getting a master’s degree in trial work that will serve as a model for training prosecutors for the entire nation.

I also want to consolidate all the restorative justice courtrooms into one bureau, combining drug courts, mental health courts, and veterans courts into one place. These courtrooms are for non-violent offenders where all parties, the judge, prosecutor, public defender, and social service providers collaborate on how to get someone back on track.

These programs are having success, and the recidivism rates are significantly less. Not only does it make us morally better as a society, it is fiscally better. These programs cost a fraction of what it costs to incarcerate someone. This type of prosecution will also appeal to a completely different type of lawyer, one who does not want to be the hard-charging trial prosecutor, but one who wants to focus on getting people the resources and help needed to get back on track. The two divisions will work in concert to lower crime rates by decreasing recidivism through rehabilitation and by keeping the truly violent, dangerous criminals off the streets.

Eileen O’Neill Burke: Within the past year, Cook County, Chicago in particular, has seen a rapid increase in armed robberies and carjackings. As State’s Attorney, I want to transform our criminal justice system so that when someone commits a crime with a gun, they will be prosecuted by the best-trained felony prosecution division in the country. By working with federal offices and our neighboring states, we will tackle the flow of illegal guns, we will go after straw purchasers who sell those guns to criminals.

Cook County is currently experiencing not just an enormous increase in gun possession but an exponential increase in guns with switches converting them to automatic weapons and extended magazines. We are seeing evidence of that with the number of mass shootings that are occurring on a regular basis. People who have nothing to do with the dispute are getting shot and killed in the crossfire when the offenders use these guns to spray bullets into crowds and bystanders.

The newly enacted Assault Weapons Ban gives us an important new tool to fight this scourge of violence. This new law elevates the class of offense and the term of sentence for anyone possessing these weapons. Whether violence is present or not, we need to send a loud and clear message that these weapons will not be tolerated by seeking detention and jail time every single time someone is found in possession of these weapons.

Eileen O’Neill Burke: There absolutely has to be a solid working relationship between the State’s Attorney’s office and the police. The police are the main, if not the sole witness, in each and every criminal prosecution. They are responsible for gathering all of the evidence, witnesses, and statements which form a prosecution. Establishing a robust and trustworthy partnership between the State’s Attorney’s office and the police is crucial for public safety and justice. I recognize the hard and dangerous work of law enforcement. I see room for mass improvement in our collaborative efforts.

For example, I fully support regular meetings and training sessions so that both the officers and the state’s attorneys are well-versed in the law and in courtroom proceedings. No one should go into a court of law not knowing what the law is or how the proceedings will transpire. Additionally, implementing community policing strategies, where prosecutors and officers collaborate closely with communities, will build trust and enhance the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. Strengthening these connections is crucial for promoting accountability, fairness, and ensuring a safer and more just society.

Eileen O’Neill Burke: I think the voters believe what is happening in the office right now isn’t working. It isn’t working for victims, defendants, advocates, law enforcement, and ordinary citizens. They want things to work right because they know that a hobbled government isn’t one that can keep people safe or promote justice.

A thriving city needs to be safe for commerce and safe for its citizens. I have several differences of opinion with the current administration’s policies because I do not believe that they promote a thriving, safe city.

I will seek pre-trial detention for each and every violent crime. There are currently 140 people on electronic monitoring charged with murder or attempted murder. These are charges that require detention.

I will seek pre-trial detention and the maximum penalty for each and every violent crime committed on public transportation. Having a safe public transportation system is a basic necessity for any city to function and thrive.

I will enforce the retail theft statute. The felony retail theft statute states that the value of the goods for a felony is $300 or more. The current policy of the SAO is that they will not prosecute if the value is less than $1,000. I took an oath as a judge and I will take the same oath as the State’s Attorney that I will uphold the law. If there is public sentiment to change the law, the appropriate avenue to do so is to go to the legislature and change it.

There is a severe attrition problem in the office right now and that’s the first thing we have to address. I believe my plans will improve morale on day one and I stepped down from my position as an appellate court justice to turn things around.

My plans are different from the State’s Attorney’s because I am going to fundamentally reshape the structure of the office to a twin mission of restorative justice and felony prosecution. If we do this right, Cook County will be the model for the entire nation. We’ll recruit lawyers from all over the country to work in an innovative office that tackles violent crime and works to combat the root causes of crime like poverty and historic disinvestment in communities.