West Cook News

GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is using recent talks of limiting gas station hours in Oak Park to advocate for a recall provision that would allow voters to remove politicians such as Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

“Cook County is facing a major increase in crime thanks to the destructive policies of State’s Attorney Kim Foxx,” Bailey, a state senator from Xenia, said in a statement. “Her unwillingness to do her job is rewarding criminals and punishing honest citizens. Crime is on the rise in Cook County and all over the state. Oak Park is considering a measure to prevent gas stations from staying open 24 hours because of the rise in crime. Our communities are having to make these tough decisions because leaders like JB Pritzker and Kim Foxx are failing to do the job voters sent to them to do. I think it is time we enact a law to allow Cook County voters to vote failed leaders like Kim Foxx out of office.”

Former office supervisor James Murphy III, who was in charge of criminal bail hearings and grand jury cases in Foxx’s office, criticized Foxx for the shortcomings of her department.

“I cannot continue to work for an administration I no longer respect. A few months ago, I was summoned into a meeting with the state’s attorney so she could criticize some bond hearings I did. One involved a massive shootout and the other involved a woman who was walking to the store when she was gunned down in a crossfire. The bond hearings involved gun possession charges only. The state’s attorney communicated that she was upset because a headline in a newspaper read ‘Man won’t face murder charge under the Safe-T Act.’ The state’s attorney voiced her concern with the headline and the heat she was getting from her backers and never voiced any concern over the fact that this woman was shot and killed simply walking to the store. And nobody was going to face a murder charge,” Murphy said in the letter, according to CWB Chicago. “That is what is wrong with this administration. I’ve seen it day after day. How many mass shootings do there have to be before something is done? This administration is more concerned with political narratives and agendas than with victims and prosecuting violent crime. That is why I can’t stay any longer.”

In addition, Murphy attacked the SAFE-T Act, which would go into force on Jan. 1, 2023.

Cash bail will no longer be required in criminal proceedings. If the prosecution feels that a person suspected of a crime should be detained in jail, they have the burden of proof under the SAFE-T Act. The law only permits detention if it is established that the defendant "poses a specific, real and present threat to a person or has a high likelihood of willful flight."

"This January, if nothing is done, mayhem will ensue across Illinois as alleged perpetrators held in pre-trial confinement for crimes from petty theft all the way up to murder will be let out of jail everywhere," Mike Koolidge, a spokesman for the Political Action Committee People Who Play By the Rules, said, Prairie State Wire reported. "Any respectable legislator and state's attorneys who doesn't do something about this before then will have blood on their hands, the least of which being the man who signed this catastrophic bill into law, Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker.”

Last year, activist prosecutor Foxx made headlines for initially attempting to avoid charging gang members involved in a different gunfight, Chicago City Wire reported.