Suffredin endorsed for Cook County State's Atty

Written by: Sandra Verthein on Jan 14, 2008 6:44 AM EST

Northside DFA has officially endorsed Larry Suffredin for Cook County State's Attorney. 

At our January NDFA meeting we heard from five of the six Democratic candidates for Cook County State's Attorney (the sixth candidate declined our invitation to speak).  After the presentations, three of the candidates, Anita Alvarez, Tommy Brewer and Larry Suffredin were nominated by members of the group for possible endorsement.  When all votes were counted only one candidate, Comm. Suffredin, had met our 75% thhreshold for endorsement. 

Why Larry Suffredin?  I offer this quote from reformer Dick Simpson, who is UIC political science professor and former Chicago Alderman:

"In the Cook County state's attorney race, progressive Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin is running against Ald. Howard "Can't Pay His Rent" Brookins and Ald. Tom Allen, a party hack who has more patronage and campaign finance conflicts than one can count. Suffredin has promised to fight political corruption with a strike force that will target corrupt elected and appointed officials, government vendors and police officers. This is a novel concept in Cook County, the most corrupt county in the country. Suffredin is endorsed by unions, IVI-IPO, suburban Democratic organizations, nearly all Chicago North Side reform politicians and Secretary of State Jesse White."

Comm. Suffredin has also just been endorsed by Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

You can download audio recordings of all five presentations, and download minutes of the January Northside DFA meeting, here:

http://groups.google.com/group/ndfa-downloads/files

I have also included the portion of the meeting minutes that recaps the five presentations and the Q&A sessions at the end of this message.

On another topic, I just tallied up the numbers, and so far Northside DFA members have knocked on the doors of 3,089 voters on behalf of Congressional Candidate Mark Pera -- a phenomenal number!  Mark has also received the first newspaper endorsement in the race, from "The Doings" Newspaper in Western Springs.  And last night Mark participated in a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.  According to a press release sent out by the Pera campaign, Lipinski was 20 minutes late for the event, keeping the at-capacity crowd waiting, and at the beginning of the forum he said he was unprepared to discuss two pre-assigned topics - healthcare and immigration.  A class act as usual!

We need more people out canvassing for Mark -- we will be going out Saturday and Sunday every weekend from now to the election.  For a full list of upcoming events, go to our NDFA page and scroll down:  http://www.dfalink.com/NDFA

Peace,
Sandra Verthein
Northside DFA

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NOTE:  The minutes were prepared by NDFA Recording Secretary Melissa Lindberg based on notes taken at the meeting.  They are NOT official transcripts, nor do any of the statements represent direct quotes from the candidates.  To hear exactly what the candidates said you can listen to the audio presentations at: http://groups.google.com/group/ndfa-downloads/files

COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY CANDIDATE PRESENTATIONS
AT JANUARY 3, 2008 NORTHSIDE DFA MEETING

All the State’s Attorney’s candidates were invited to present at the meeting this month.  Only Tom Allen turned down the invitation.   Each candidate was given 15 minutes: 5 minutes to speak, and 10 minutes for questions. Cynthia Fox moderated the candidate presentations.   In these notes, questions are paraphrased, as are the answers: this is not a transcription.

Anita Alvarez: currently Chief Deputy of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, overseeing day-to-day operations of more than 900 assistant state’s attorney’s.  It’s second only to Los Angeles in terms of size of a State’s Attorney’s office (sometimes known as District Attorneys).  She’s spent her entire career in the SA’s office, 21 years, since 1986.  She’s served as Supervisor of the Public Integrity Unit, was Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Bureau, and Chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau – and has worked in Gang Crimes, and Domestic Violence as well.  She was the lead prosecutor on the Girl X case, and spoke about the painstakingly slow way Girl X testified, since she could only communicate by moving her eyes.  She spoke of her passion for the job, to be the voice of the victims, to stand up for minorities.  She stressed the importance of having an attorney in charge of the State’s Attorney’s Office, not a politician.  She noted the power to indict as a reason not to have a career politician head the office.  She is married, with 4 children, and is new to the political arena.

Questions:

1)      There are still staff in the State’s Attorney’s who are implicated in the John Burge torture scandal; there has been a blind eye turned to this.  What would you do to clean up the office?  Alvarez:  No tolerance for anyone associated with torture: most of those people are now gone.  There are new safeguards in place to prevent it happening again: for instance, videotaping of interrogations, more intensive training for assistant state attorneys, esp. about the need for corroborating evidence when there are confessions.

2)      How come there have been so few mob prosecutions in the last 40 years?  Alvarez: most of the mob cases have been federal prosecutions – they have more resources to spend on these prosecutions. 

3)      How come the State’s Attorney’s Office has been so weak on prosecuting political corruption? For instance, the cop who beat up a homeless man in Melrose Park, now is being prosecuted by the Feds.  Alvarez:  We were running a parallel investigation, but the feds had 10 investigators for the case to our 1.  We’re not shirking responsibilities, however the Feds work with a better statue of limitations on some of these crimes than are available under State Law, and often better sentences: so it makes sense to let the Feds lead on some of these prosecutions.  However, there is room to be more proactive in the investigations.

4)      How do you intend to address the budget crisis in the State’s Attorney’s Office?  Alvarez:  we need to address the crisis by going after more grant money from the Feds.  Also we can be more creative in managing our staff – for instance, start a job-sharing program for those who wish to work part-time, share a position.  Also, there is room to be more creative in creating partnerships with the private sector.

5)      There is a death penalty moratorium in Illinois: why is the State’s Attorney’s Office still pursuing death penalty cases?  Alvarez: the death penalty is still the law in Illinois, and as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer she has the obligation to uphold the law as it stands.  Springfield needs to delete the death penalty from the books; she upholds the law as is.

Website: www.AnitaAlvarez2008.com

Tommy Brewer:  he’s a native of Chicago, grew up in public housing, went to public schools.   He’s a former FBI agent, former assistant state’s attorney; he headed the Civil Rights Division in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office.  He was in the office of Special Prosecutions for the Burge investigation.  He’s also a defense attorney.  There’s a new top cop now, and a need for community leadership.  Public trust in the police has been waning; the unsolved murder rates increasing due to the lack of community trust.  CSI notwithstanding, people solve crimes. 

Questions:

1)      There are still staff in the State’s Attorney’s who are implicated in the John Burge torture scandal; there has been a blind eye turned to this.  What would you do to clean up the office?  Brewer:  3 are judges, so … the State’s Attorney’s Office is still fighting the conviction post-petitions of those who were tortured: that needs to be changed.  Of the 8 officers from Burge’s command, 4 have retired, and 4 are still there.  They will be gone when he takes office.

2)      How will you assure the political independence of the office, how is it not independent now? Brewer:  Devine did not come from the Central Committee, but he does have close ties to the Mayor.  The way to change that culture is to run the office with complete professionalism, not politically.

3)      How do you train ASA’s to recognize the difference between criminal intent and drug addiction?  Brewer:  The conviction from having a $10 bag of crack stays with you for the rest of your life as it’s a felony conviction.  He noted the need to change the dynamic of prosecutions, stop prosecuting young first time drug offenders when the felony conviction stays with them for life and impedes them from getting jobs and becoming productive members of their communities – a cycle of violence in communities with large ex-offender populations.  These young people need to be sent to school.  We need stop not hiring drug offenders: how are they supposed to support themselves?  Most people are happier with a little disposable income.  While there needs to be justice, and there is a priority on public safety – what public safety is served when 60,000 drug offenders are paroled and can’t find jobs?  There is only one drug court in Cook County, on the northside, so it’s a real stroke of luck when drug offenders are assigned to that one court.  The system isn’t balanced.

4)      Traditionally, there is little coordination between the State’s Attorney and the Attorney General? Whose job is it?  Brewer: the State’s Attorney’s Office can handle consumer issues, and needs the initiative to do so.  There needs to be open communication.

5)      Do you favor the revision of laws regarding expunging the records of non-violent offenders?  Brewer:  Yes, he supports that: misdemeanors and non-violent felonies should be expunged – there needs to be a mechanism to support that. 

6)      How will you as the State’s Attorney advocate for change in laws (aka Birkett)? Brewer:  Does not support strict sentencing: the best people to decide what a sentence should be are the judges who have heard the case.  ASA’s are bound by too many rules, lack flexibility in handing cases, requesting sentences.  The State’s Attorney needs to be an active advocate with the State Legislature to bring about change.

Website: www.TommyBrewer08.com

Howard Brookins:  Currently the Alderman of the 23rd Ward – this is a far South Side ward, roughly 79th to 107th, Dan Ryan to Ashland, predominantly African American.  He is a former Assistant State’s Attorney, and Assistant Appellate Prosecutor.  He has tried everything: murder, complex civil cases, etc.  DFA is about fighting for the little people, and that’s what’ he’s doing.  He claimed to be the only candidate who will bring about real reform, for which there is a dire need.  There are issues of police brutality, misconduct: he introduced the Police Accountability Ordinance four years ago with little support (Troutman, Tilman).  He’s been fighting for accountability in the Burge case before it was popular.  There are 900 attorneys in the State’s Attorney’s Office: currently 64 of them are African American, 43 Hispanics: the office needs to reflect diversity of the population it serves and benefit from the diversity of thought that would bring.  He noted the office needs to upgrade the technology the office uses; and that only 9 attorneys are assigned to consumer fraud.  He also said they rely too much on the United States Attorneys Office to clean up corruption.

Questions:

1)      Do you stick up for union members in your ward? There is a reputation for union-bashing?  Brookins: There is double-digit unemployment in his ward: Wal-Mart would have come in, bringing many much-needed jobs – he had negotiated with them for higher wages, and was targeted by the unions for his support of Wal-Mart.  Unions spent $500,000 in the attempt to run him out of office.

2)      What is the back rent you owe on your downtown office?  Brookins:  He shares a small office, rents have gone up: he’s been negotiation with the landlord, and the Sun-Times story did not come from the landlord.  Each and every person will have a day in court, and the truth of the matter will come out.

3)      There are still staff in the State’s Attorney’s who are implicated in the John Burge torture scandal; there has been a blind eye turned to this.  What would you do to clean up the office?  Brookins: He has pushed for Congressional hearings into the Burge matter, and urged the USA’s to investigate.  The situation needs to be brought to justice.

4)      You endorsed Dick Divine for re-election: what do you see needing reform in the SA’s office?  Brookins: There needs to be an end to the status quo.  All the other candidates have ties to the Burge matter; he has the cleanest hands.  He was not in the State’s Attorney’s office long enough to affect change: he ran into roadblocks to his career while there and got out. 

5)      How can you affect the number of black men who should not be charged, particularly in regards to small time drug offenses?  Brookins:  African American men are 58% more likely to be prosecuted for drug offenses than white men.  We’re not going to get at the drug trade by locking up small time offenders; we need to fund treatment programs for them.  Dismiss 1st time drug offenses, prioritize what we go after: caches, hordes of illegally brought in guns, serious crimes.  African American males are more likely to be victims of serious crimes, as well as victims of racial profiling.  We need to be smart about the way we fight crime.

Website: www.BrookinsForJustice.com

Bob Milan:  Currently serving as Dick Devine’s top assistant in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, he’s handled cases of all kinds; was the lead prosecutor on the Brown’s Chicken trial.  He was head of a special unit to prosecute renegade police officers.  He spoke of his leadership in the office, and also spoke of the need to elect a prosecutor not a politician.  He noted the training programs that have been put in place to teach prosecutors how to deal with wrongful convictions; there is now a DNA review unit dedicated to retesting DNA of those convicts who claim innocence; and that unit has exonerated a number of men.  He implemented the videotaping of interrogations across the jurisdiction.  He led the public crusade for prosecutors to get fair pay after the public defense attorneys got a raise.  He wants to attack the homicide rate in Cook County, and expand the street corner program as well as strengthen the Internet Predators Unit, and the Child Support Program.  He reiterated that the State’s Attorney should be a career prosecutor, not an alderman or commissioner.  

Questions:

1)      Exactly what can the State’s Attorney’s Office do to prevent future Burges?  Milan: one major thing is to track complaints, and see the patterns that develop, and investigate those patterns.  Career criminals will file complaints against police officers as part of their tactics against the police, so there has to be a careful consideration of all the factors in the complaints.

2)      Why haven’t more grants and programs for funding been tapped?  Milan: More than a quarter of the budget is grant funded; Child Support is grant funded, Auto crimes, Sex crimes, grant funded.  We need to keep looking for more funding, but we’re tapping into a large amount now.

3)      There are still staff in the State’s Attorney’s who are implicated in the John Burge torture scandal; there has been a blind eye turned to this.  What would you do to clean up the office?  Milan: WHO?  (questioner does not have list, but is willing to provide it) Gave his phone number to the questioner for follow up: said he would fire anyone who has been credibly implicated in the Burge scandal immediately.

4)      Would interviews with victims of violent crime by police officers agree that the State’s Attorney’s Office is doing a great job prosecuting renegade police officers?  Milan: The State’s Attorney’s Office has an A+ training program to deal with investigating and prosecuting renegade police officers, the best in the country.  He has indicted 150 police officers over the course of his career.  Works well with the majority of police officers, but not afraid to go after bad cops if there is credible evidence against them.

5)      What is your opinion of Anita Alvarez? Milan: Very proud of her career: every lawyer in the county has a right to run for this office.

Website:  www.Milan08.com

Larry Suffredin:  Currently a Cook County Commissioner.  Joked “Glad to be here in Iowa.”  He noted that the State’s Attorney’s Office serves as the Justice Department for our county; it has never used its civil power to improve life for the residents of Cook County.  The status quo is bad: We need a total re-alignment of the office.  It needs a candidate with 1) independence; 2) experience (he’s tried more kinds of jury trials, including going to the Supreme Court) and 3) to be used in a fair way.  He noted that the judgments on what is prosecuted are not equal: there is only one drug court in Cook County.  There is not enough diversity in the Office, it needs more lawyers of color.  More community advocate offices (not Community Prosecutors Offices).  Change is what he’s about – his campaign co-chairs are Forrest Claypool and Mike Quigley; Abner Mikva and Debra Shore are also supporting his campaign.  The Office needs to go after public corruption, not just leave it to the Feds.  He can carry the suburbs and win the Lakefront, as well as winning a significant portion of the African American Community.  He also noted that SEIU and AFSME are supporting his campaign.

Questions:

1)      What are the State’s Attorney’s civil powers?  Suffredin:  the Criminal side has had the most focus, the best pay; the civil side has been the step-sister.  Civil side includes bankruptcy, etc. has the ability to generate income for the office in terms of settlements.  Should have gone after BP Amoco when they wanted to increase the pollution in Lake Michigan.  Never has gone after an environmental suit.  Has the same powers as Lisa Madigan’s Attorney General’s Office: can run parallel investigations.  The Office needs to enforce both criminal and civil law.

2)      Federal jurisdiction seems to rule most political corruption cases?  Suffredin:  the Office has too long allowed the United States Attorneys to handle our corruption cases; needs to have a stronger hand in prosecuting these cases.  There is plenty of authority in state law to use for the cases and get convictions in state court system; the feds can also pursue in the federal courts.

3)      How do we know you won’t politicize the office?  Suffredin:  I negotiated the Shakman decree for the County; and have enforced Shakman.  He noted you cannot run a system of justice that focuses on only one segment of the population (i.e., African American males). 

4)      What do think about TIF districts?  Not supporting Quigley’s proposal?  Suffredin:  the breakdown on each bill was too much information, would make the bills too long, not a good way to make the information available.  Need to find other meaningful ways to for citizens to be informed about TIF spending.

Website: www.SuffredinforStatesAttorney.org

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Location: Chicago, IL 60640