Following Kim Foxx’s decision to step down after her second term, the Cook County state’s attorney position is up for grabs. Democratic candidate and former Assistant State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke is running against Republican candidate and former 2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti.
The state’s attorney’s office is responsible for prosecuting all felony and misdemeanor crimes in Cook County and can influence criminal justice reform.
Both candidates are targeting high crime rates in the city, one of the leading concerns among voters, according to a 2023 poll by the Illinois Policy Institute. Gun violence remains a big issue in Chicago, and illegal guns are the main focus for both the candidates.
“Somehow, we are able to stop fireworks from coming over the border from Indiana, but we can’t stop guns? That’s ridiculous,” O’Neill Burke said at a meeting with faith leaders in the Austin neighborhood last May. She plans to pursue pre-trial detention for all violent gun charges, meaning all those accused would have to stay in jail while awaiting trial. She is also taking aim at handguns with so-called switches or extended magazines, which are hard to control and often fire rapidly.
Fioretti similarly plans to prosecute illegal guns. “Prosecutors must use every legal tool in the toolbox to get illegal guns off the street to keep our neighborhoods safe,” he said in a statement. He cited that the majority of victims of violent crime are in Black and Latino communities, saying it “will cost lives in the neighborhoods of those that need the most protection.”
Youth crime, mainly consisting of carjackings and smash-and-grab robberies, is also a main concern of both candidates. In 2020, 49% of carjackings arrestees were under the age of 17, associated by some — including former Mayor Lori Lightfoot — with pandemic remote learning.
The Illinois Juvenile Court Act makes it difficult to detain juveniles for extended periods of time, possibly allowing multiple crimes to take place while awaiting trial.
Fioretti has positioned himself against the new SAFE-T Act, which Foxx championed to eliminate cash bail, and wants to allow judges more discretion with detention. This would allow for a higher number of juvenile detentions overall. He also plans to prosecute parents of juveniles to the fullest extent of the law in situations where they can be held accountable.
O’Neill Burke plans on implementing a pilot program that would work with arrested youth and enter them into therapies, after-school programs and job training while they are not in school.
“I’m not willing to just wait a kid out until they’re 18 and they’re ready for the adult system, which is what we’re doing now,” she said. “We can get them turned around. We just have to get the right programs in place to do so.”
Young people are particularly at risk of crime in Chicago, as 46.6% of all homicide victims in 2023 were under the age of 30.
Destiny Patterson, a student at Kennedy-King College in Englewood, said there needs to be a bigger change in how we deal with disadvantaged youth, especially those in the system.
“The teens are more vulnerable to not being adopted and ending up on the streets and not having too much going on career-wise or anything school-wise,” she said.
Taniya Turner, also a Kennedy-King student, said she wants the next state’s attorney to invest in Chicago youth.
“Somebody who cares about the youth,” Turner said, describing the ideal candidate. “Somebody who knows how to handle funds appropriately.”
Other young people shared concerns about crime in the city. “I feel like the crime here, it’s pretty bad honestly,” said Yuliana Jimenez, a 23-year-old from Logan Square. “They should be taking more responsibility.”
AJ Jackson, a first-year musical theater student at Columbia College, said she feels similarly, wondering where lawmakers’ priorities lie, especially as the abortion debate also heats up, worrying about her body and people dying on the street every day.
Abortion rights have also become a part of the Cook County state’s attorney race. O’Neill Burke plans to create a Choice Protection Unit, which will defend Illinois abortion laws through both criminal and civil prosecution.
Meanwhile, Fioretti is concerned about migrant crime, campaigning on how he will cooperate with ICE to remove violent undocumented residents from Chicago’s streets and neighborhoods. This conflicts with Chicago’s current status as a sanctuary city, meaning the city will not ask about immigration status, disclose immigration information to authorities or deny anyone services for immigration status. He also refers to these residents as “illegal aliens.”
One of Fioretti’s other talking points is corruption. Illinois’ infamous history of corruption has led him to take a hard stance on it.
This was an issue for Julian Llano, an Illinois Institute of Technology student living in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. He said he would like the state’s attorney to “serve the law first, and not be manipulated by outside parties like money.”
“First thing’s first, is to serve the law and serve the people,” he said.
Recent UIC grad John Emiliano, who lives in the Little Italy neighborhood, said he wanted “fair and equitable trials” from the state’s attorney.
“Obviously less prosecution of Black and Brown people would kinda eat,” Emiliano said.
Tyler Harding, a senior film and television major at the college, agrees with the focus on racial justice and compassion in prosecuting. Also, a Columbia Votes “voter genius,” Harding spoke about the importance of voting in local elections.
“The state’s attorney for Cook County is responsible for prosecuting thousands of felonies and misdemeanor charges through their office and how those cases are handled, which ones are decided, prosecuted, to what extent?” he said. “It’s really important that you get someone into that office that recognizes the humanity, that recognizes the historical divestments in Black and Brown communities here in Cook County.”
Generation Z is one of the least likely age groups to vote in local elections. During Chicago’s primary election in March, which elected O’Neill Burke as the Democratic candidate, 17- to 24-year-olds only accounted for 3.22% of voters. Local elections, in general, have lower voter turnout, with only 25% of registered voters casting a ballot in the March primary.
“As a young person living in the city, living in Cook County, this has to do with the safety of your neighborhoods. It has to do with your community,” he said.
Copy edited by Vanessa Orozco
