Authors: Steve Bogira
17
“Selling the prosecutor”:
This ploy has existed for at least a half century: Samuel Dash wrote about it in 1951 in his study of the federal branch of the Municipal Court of Cook County. It was well known that prosecutors in that branch were usually willing to reduce felony charges to misdemeanors to get guilty pleas, Dash wrote, but defense lawyers would warn clients—especially
young first offenders—that they were facing a long prison term. “The attorneys inform the defendant that they know the judge and the prosecutor and with a little money can buy them off and get them to accept a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor. The frightened defendant doesn’t care how he is saved, so long as he is saved. Somehow he raises the money his lawyer demands. The lawyer pays no money to the judge or prosecutor, but pockets the money.” After the defendant is allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and is given probation, he “informs his friends that his lawyer is a ‘sharp operator’ and that the judges and prosecutors can be bought off.” Dash, “Cracks in the Foundation of Criminal Justice,” p. 395.
18
“Mafia factotum”; “racketeer”; “ruthless”; “depraved”: Bracy v. Schomig
, 286 F. 3d 406 (2002).
19
Salaries of circuit judges:
Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.
20
Bribing clerks: U.S. v. Wolfson
, 83 CR 976. Dean Wolfson was a defense lawyer who in 1985 was sentenced to seven and a half years in federal prison for racketeering and mail fraud, charges stemming from Greylord. In 1994, when Wolfson asked a judge to end his probation early, prosecutors submitted a thirty-three-page filing detailing how he bribed clerks and had them steer cases to corrupt judges. “Government’s Response to Defendant’s Motion for Early Termination of Probation,”
U.S. v. Wolfson
, August 30, 1994.
21
A commission:
“A Report on the Felony Courts,”
Special Commission on the Administration of Justice in Cook County
, 1987, p. 17.
22
No audit:
According to Paul Biebel, the presiding judge in 2004.
23
Anthony Spilotro:
William F. Roemer Jr.,
The Enforcer
(Donald I. Fine, 1994).
24
Members of Titone’s family:
Dino Titone interview.
25
Wasn’t unwise for Spilotro:
“Spilotro not guilty in murders,”
Chicago Tribune
, Oct. 28, 1983. Spilotro didn’t have to spend time in jail while his case was pending, having posted $100,000 bail; nor was he confined to Illinois, as Maloney allowed him to travel to Las Vegas over the objections of prosecutors. (“Judge approves Spilotro travel to Las Vegas,”
Chicago Tribune
, March 19, 1983.) At Maloney’s sentencing in 1994, federal prosecutors offered testimony from an outfit turncoat that the Spilotro acquittal was fixed. But one of the assistant state’s attorneys who’d prosecuted Spilotro testified that the evidence in the case had been so weak that he’d have been “very, very surprised” if Maloney had convicted Spilotro. (“As a lawyer, Maloney paid off judges, admitted mobster says,”
Chicago Tribune
, July 21, 1994.)
26
Mob leaders:
Roemer,
War of the Godfathers
(Donald I. Fine, 1990), p. 289.
27
A ruling upheld: Bracy v. Schomig
, 286 F. 2d 406 (2002).
28
“It is a sad day”: Bracy v. Schomig
, 248 F. 3d 604 (2001).
29
“There are doubtless”; “appalling”; “not written for easy cases”: Bracy v. Gramley
, 81 F. 3d 684 (1996).
30
“Overbearing conduct”: People v. Blue
, 189 Ill. 2d 99 (2000).
FOURTEEN · A SENSITIVE AREA
1
“A mysterious ‘black box’ ”:
“Cop ‘black box’ torture charged,”
Chicago Tribune
, Feb. 9, 1984.
FIFTEEN · WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
1
In recent years:
Saundra Westervelt,
Shifting the Blame: How Victimization Became a Criminal Defense
(Rutgers University Press, 1998), pp. 65–80.
2
The world’s first such court:
David Tanenhaus,
Policing the Child: Juvenile Justice in Chicago, 1870–1925
(University of Chicago Ph.D. thesis, 1997); David Rothman,
Conscience and Convenience
(Little, Brown, 1980), pp. 205–36.
3
Similar courts:
Within five years, ten states had juvenile justice procedures; by 1920, all but three states had juvenile courts. Ibid., p. 215.
4
“The problem”:
Julian Mack, “The Juvenile Court,”
Harvard Law Review
(1909–10), pp. 119–20.
5
But even in the earliest years:
Tanenhaus, “The evolution of transfer out of the juvenile court,”
The Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice
(University of Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 13–43.
6
Across the nation:
Daniel E. Traver, “The Wrong Answer to a Serious Problem: A Story of School Shootings, Politics and Automatic Transfer,”
Loyola University Chicago Law Journal
(winter 2000); David S. Tanenhaus and Steven A. Drizin, “ ‘Owing to the Extreme Youth of the Accused’: The Changing Legal Response to Juvenile Homicide,”
Northwestern School of Law Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
(spring/summer 2002), p. 641.
7
Increases the recidivism:
David L. Myers,
Excluding Violent Youths from Juvenile Court: The Effectiveness of Legislative Waiver
(LFC Scholarly Pub., LLC, 2001); Donna M. Bishop, et al., “The Transfer of Juveniles to Criminal Court: Does It Make a Difference?” (
Crime & Delinquency
, 1996), p. 183.
8
Perhaps:
F. P. Reddington and A. D. Sapp, “Juveniles in Adult Prisons: Problems and Prospects,”
Journal of Crime & Justice
(1997).
9
PTSD became:
Westervelt,
Shifting the Blame
, pp. 130–31.
10
“Development”: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
, fourth edition (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), pp. 424–29.
11
First used as a criminal defense:
Westervelt,
Shifting the Blame
, pp. 129–36.
12
They wrote an article:
Larry Heinrich, Hon. Michael S. Jordan, and Marijane Placek, “Perspectives on the Battered Woman Syndrome: It’s Time to Modify Illinois Law,”
Illinois Bar Journal
(February 1994).
13
According to the National Center:
Julia Whealin, “Child Sexual Abuse: A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet,”
http://www.ncptsd.org
(visited Dec. 12, 2004).
14
In reality:
Interview with IDOC spokesperson Sergio Molina.
SIXTEEN · PREJUDICE
1
Batson v. Kentucky: 476 U.S. 79.
2
Great Britain did so:
Judith Heinz, “Peremptory challenges in criminal cases: a comparison of regulation in the United States, England, and Canada,”
Loyola of Los Angeles International & Comparative Law Journal
(November 1993), p. 201.
3
“Charade”: People v. Randall
, 283 Ill. App. 3d 1019.
4
Not a single black male:
No agency collects racial data on Cook County jurors. But in 2000, the
Chicago Reporter
, an investigative monthly, studied census tract information of jurors who reported for duty during the first six months of that
year. The magazine found that men from black neighborhoods were “far less likely” to be picked for juries than men from white neighborhoods and women of any race or ethnicity. “The color of justice on Cook County juries,”
Chicago Reporter
, April 2001.
5
“It may fairly”: State v. Chapple
, 135 Ariz. 281 (1983).
6
Prosecutors are required: People v. Godina
, 223 Ill. App. 3d 205 (1991).
7
Martha DiCaro:
“Hood’s son acquitted in girl’s death,”
Chicago Tribune
, April 11, 1981; “Killing unexplained; family asks, ‘Why?’ ” Bonita Brodt,
Chicago Tribune
, April 26, 1981.
8
He’s convinced:
Comments that Clevan made at a press conference two weeks after the attack seem to lend support to Turner’s contention that more than one youth attacked Clevan and Lenard at 33rd and Shields. One white youth “hit me across my head and the other had hit Lenard,” Clevan was quoted as saying. Chinta Strausberg, “Other Bridgeport victim relives incident,”
Chicago Defender
, April 7, 1997.
9
A judge may bar testimony: People v. Illgen
. 145 Ill. 2d 353, 365 (1991).
10
“At least an associate”:
“In Re: Trusteeship Proceedings, Chicago District Council” (Finding of Fact No. 65), Feb. 7, 1998.
11
With the intensive-care photo:
Interviews with Atif Sheikh and two jurors who wished to remain anonymous.
EIGHTEEN · COMPASSION
1
$51 a day:
Cook County Department of Corrections estimate.
2
Locallo received good news:
“Lawyer groups unite in opposing divorce court judge’s retention,”
Chicago Tribune
, Oct. 13, 1998.
3
Judges have been retained:
Larry Aspin, William K. Hall, Jean Bax, and Celeste Montoya, “Thirty Years of Judicial Retention Elections: An Update,”
Social Science Journal
(2000), p. 1.
4
Retention rates are even higher:
From 1964 through 1994, the retention rate was 99.2 percent in the nine states other than Illinois that have retention elections. Ibid.
5
“Perfectly reasonable”:
“Justice for Lenard Clark,”
Chicago Tribune
, Sept. 22, 1998.
6
“Justice has been served”:
“Wounds to heal,”
Chicago Sun-Times
, Sept. 23, 1998.
7
“Send a strong message”:
Ibid.
8
“Fully accountable”:
“For Clark jurors, an agonizing decision,”
Chicago Tribune
, Sept. 20, 1998.
9
Illinois law generally dictates:
It did in 1998. A 2003 amendment (P.A. 93-160) makes it easier for judges to issue consecutive sentences.
10
“Substantial change”:
730 ILCS 5/5-8-4 (a) (1998).
11
Davis will resign:
“NAACP prez resigns, denies being ousted,”
Chicago Defender
, Oct. 21, 1998.
12
“Environmental disasters”:
Testimony of deputy corporation counsel Susan Lichtenstein, Dec. 22, 1993,
U.S. v. Wolf
, 92 CR 737.
13
Wolf later pointed out: U.S. v. Wolf
, 90 F. 3d 191 (1996).
NINETEEN · POLITICS
15
“Justice was not served”:
“Punishment in Clark case must fit crime, Rev. Jackson says,”
Chicago Defender
, Oct. 22, 1998.
16
Robert Shaw:
“NAACP prez resigns, denies being ousted,”
Chicago Defender
, Oct. 21, 1998.
17
“The justice system”; “We all know”:
“Outcry at Clark sentence,”
Chicago Defender
, Oct. 21, 1998.
18
“Let off”:
“Probation for savage racial beating,”
Independent
, Oct. 20, 1998.
19
“I’m gonna”:
Jack Higgins,
Chicago Sun-Times
, Oct. 21, 1998.
20
In tears; “for continued”:
“ ‘Why didn’t they go to jail?’ mom asks,”
Chicago Tribune
, Oct. 21, 1998.
21
Junior-middleweight boxer:
“Different career paths for Jankovich, LaRosa,”
Chicago Sun-Times
, March 26, 1998.
22
A large ad: Chicago Defender
, Oct. 24, 1998.
23
Humanitarian award:
“Gator hails award given to Caruso Sr.,”
Chicago Defender
, Oct. 15, 1998; “Clark beating shatters fragile racial alliance,”
Chicago Reporter
, April 1999.