{"id":45708,"date":"2016-11-08T13:56:57","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T19:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=45708"},"modified":"2016-11-11T14:15:30","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T20:15:30","slug":"old-boss-same-as-the-new-boss-eyes-on-kim-foxx-in-the-wake-of-anita-alvarez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/old-boss-same-as-the-new-boss-eyes-on-kim-foxx-in-the-wake-of-anita-alvarez\/","title":{"rendered":"Old boss same as new boss? Eyes on Kim Foxx in the wake of Anita Alvarez"},"content":{"rendered":"

By June Leffler<\/strong><\/p>\n

Favored to handily win the race for Cook County State\u2019s Attorney, Kim Foxx is promising reform in a post-Anita Alvarez era. Yet some voters and activists aren\u2019t letting their guard down, saying they will hold whomever is in office accountable.<\/p>\n

For the March primary, Chicagoans\u2019 frustration with State\u2019s Attorney Alvarez spurred a robust turnout for Foxx. A few months earlier, the video of police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Laquan McDonald 16 times was released, and Alvarez was criticized for delaying 13 months until the eve of the video\u2019s release to charge the officer. Activists already had it out for Alvarez on other accounts, such as undercharging Dante Servin for killing Rekia Boyd, which resulted in the case being thrown out entirely.<\/p>\n

The grassroots campaign ByeAnita spearheaded Alvarez\u2019s primary upset, but it was not an endorsement of Foxx herself.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The grassroots movement] was about highlighting the power of the office and how it was used and not used,\u201d said Foxx last week. \u201cThe people said that whatever your platform, we want to hold you accountable. We\u2019re going to hold your feet to the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

She wants diversion programs for those who are mentally ill, drug users and juveniles. She wants more support for a wrongful convictions unit. She wants a more diverse office. She wants to assess office data for patterns of disparity. To hold police accountable, she wants to bring in a private investigator for cases of police officers shooting unarmed people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t have any expectations,\u201d said Kofi Ademola of Chicago Black Lives Matter who organized around the ByeAnita campaign. \u201cIt\u2019s good rhetoric for sure, but it\u2019s about the work and not the lip service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foxx is also advocating for tough-on-crime measures. She has pledged a even-handed system that will ensure that offenders who use guns to commit crimes get serious penalties, and a coordinated approach to better target repeat offenders.<\/p>\n

Ademola is a prison and police abolitionist and says racism is rampant throughout the whole punitive system. Backing a politician like Foxx isn\u2019t part of his message.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really have no feelings towards her in particular,\u201d Ademola said.<\/p>\n

He had much harsher words for Alvarez than for Foxx, but he believes Alvarez\u2019s legacy will still live on in the prosecutors who have worked under her, some who are about to become judges. He also said the State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s office is tied closely to the police and the mayor, whom he doesn\u2019t trust.<\/p>\n

Ademola isn\u2019t endorsing Foxx or her opponent, Republican Christopher Pfannkuche. However, Ademola did point out that Pfannkuche is the one using fighting words against Rahm Emanuel, campaigning that he would initiate an investigation against the mayor.<\/p>\n

\"Left:
Left: Democratic candidate Kim Foxx. Right: Republican candidate Christopher Pfannkuche.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhere does her interest lie?\u201d Ademola said. \u201cDoes your interest lie in justice and accountability to the greater community, or does it service the system protected from its own mechanism of accountability? Like Rahm with the elitist corporate class, police are a protected pillar. No matter what your title, if you commit harm, you must be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Foxx prosecutes police criminals, then of course we’ll be supportive, but right now that\u2019s in the realm of speculation,\u201d said Frank Chapman, education director and field organizer for Chicago Alliance Against Racial and Political Repression.<\/p>\n

The group is pushing for a Civilian Police Accountability Council. The council of civilian, elected members would investigate police misconduct, appoint the police superintendent and replace the current Independent Police Review Authority. An ordinance for this measure has been introduced, currently with nine sponsors.<\/p>\n

The council, CPAC, \u201cis a democratic solution\u201d, while Foxx\u2019s proposed external investigator for officer shootings \u201cis a bureaucratic solution,\u201d according to Chapman.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn appointed investigator would leave the power structure intact. CPAC empowers the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapman said Foxx endorsing CPAC as the new State\u2019s Attorney \u201cwould be a recognition on her part that we can do what she can’t do.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a karaoke party in Chinatown for Democratic State Rep. Camille Lilly and Kim Foxx last week, Foxx\u2019s supporters said her past is evidence that she will protect those most afflicted by police brutality and a rigid criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

Foxx grew up in the Cabrini Green housing development. If elected, She will become part of the one percent of elected prosecutors who are women of color<\/a>, according to a report by the Center for Technology and Civil Life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was raised in and around struggle,\u201d said Foxx. \u201cI don\u2019t see it as us against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is going to level the playing field,\u201d said Foxx supporter Larry Howard. Howard believes Foxx will change some stricter sentencing laws and divert offenders to resources before throwing the book at them.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are falling through the cracks,\u201d said Howard, referring to the traditional role of prosecutors counting up guilty verdicts without caring about the consequences to individuals or communities.<\/p>\n

Another supporter, Ray Taylor, an officer in the Cook County Sheriff\u2019s office, believes Foxx will not be indebted to the internal politics of the criminal justice system. \u201cI\u2019m a human first, that uniform comes off. I see the injustices and have insight into the system,\u201d said Taylor. The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police is endorsing Pfannkuche, Foxx\u2019s opponent who has been a Cook County prosecutor for thirty years.<\/p>\n

One voter, Bernard Coachman, was reading an article on Kim Foxx on the train less than a week before the election. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take some time. She says she\u2019ll be transparent\u2026 give her a few months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Police officers on duty near the Sheridan stop during the Cubs’ World Series win. (June Leffler\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By June Leffler Favored to handily win the race for Cook County State\u2019s Attorney, Kim Foxx is promising reform in a post-Anita Alvarez era. Yet some voters and activists aren\u2019t letting their guard down, saying they will hold whomever is in office accountable. For the March primary, Chicagoans\u2019 frustration with State\u2019s Attorney Alvarez spurred a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":45738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[766,1145,2941,28,2952,2951,30,675],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election2016","category-election-2016","category-fall-2016","category-general-interest","category-politics","category-politicsnational-security","category-public-affairs","category-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nOld boss same as new boss? 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