Appearing to make good on campaign pledges, Cook County's new chief prosecutor took steps on her first day in office to reverse at least two of the most controversial policies of her predecessor, blamed by opponents for contributing significantly to a host of problems with crime and economic desertification in Chicago and elsewhere in the county.
On Dec. 2, new Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke announced her office would move immediately to direct all prosecutors handling criminal cases to petition judges to hold people in jail if they are charged with a range of violent felonies or certain other heinous crimes.
In her first news release as State's Attorney, O'Neill Burke, a former state appellate court judge, noted state law, under the controversial criminal justice reform package collectively known as the SAFE-T Act, does not allow judges to hold someone in jail while they await trial unless prosecutors specifically request such detention.
Under the new policy, O'Neill Burke said she will not give individual prosecutors discretion on whether to request pre-trial jailing for certain accused criminals, including those charged with:
- Crimes involving a gun modified with "an extended magazine, drum magazine, automatic switch," or which "used a ghost gun or defaced firearm;"
- "Any domestic violence-related, stalking or sex offense where the offender used or possessed a weapon;"
- Violent crimes committed on public transportation;
- "All murder or Class X felony offenses," including first-degree murder, aggravated arson, aggravated battery of a child, aggravated kidnapping, car jacking, armed robbery, home invasion or solicitation of murder;
- "All sex offenses where the victim was under the age of 13 and the offender was an adult;" and
- "All cases involving the manufacture, dissemination, or possession of child pornography."
“Together we are going to build a safer, stronger Cook County and that starts on Day One,” said O’Neill Burke in a prepared statement. “Let me be clear: weapons of war, violence against the vulnerable, and rampant harm to our communities will not be tolerated. The SAFE-T Act is a seminal piece of legislation that instills more fairness into our system while also requiring that prosecutors use every tool at their disposal to give victims a voice and keep Cook County safe. I am honored to serve as the new state’s attorney and excited to get to work.”
At the same time, published reports indicated O'Neill Burke had also moved immediately to rescind policies established under former Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to essentially decriminalize most cases of shoplifting in Chicago and elsewhere in the county.
According to reports, O'Neill Burke would move to prosecute as felonies all cases of shoplifting involving the theft of at least $300 in merchandise or if committed by someone with a prior conviction. Those prosecution standards would comply with state law, as written.
Previously, Foxx had directed her team of prosecutors to not charge shoplifters with felonies unless the accused thieves stole at least $1,000 worth of merchandise.
The shoplifting change was not officially announced by the new state's attorney. Rather, that policy change was reported first on the X.com account known as @CPD1617Scanner, which typically reports crime related events, and later confirmed by NBC Chicago News reporter Mary Ann Ahern, also on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
O'Neill Burke was sworn into office on Dec. 1, followed by a ceremonial swearing the next day, on Monday.
The former judge was elected in November. She was selected as the Democratic nominee amid a bruising and tense matchup in the Democratic primary election earlier this spring over Clayton Harris III, who was supported by Chicago's Democratic Party bosses and the left-wing coalition that backed Foxx.
Supporters lined up behind O'Neill Burke's campaign, hoping to restore a more traditional approach to prosecuting crime in Chicago and its near suburbs after Foxx's eight years of promoting criminal justice reforms viewed by many as being too favorable towards the rights of criminals at the expense of consideration for crime victims and public safety.
O'Neill Burke retired as an appellate justice in 2023 after 33 years on the bench, to seek election as state's attorney. She indicated from the start a clear intent to undo many of Foxx's policies, both in terms of prosecuting crime and in how she would run the State's Attorney's office.
Foxx was elected in 2016 with the backing of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, as well as with backing from organizations affiliated with billionaire George Soros. Those organizations have made no secret of their desire to install prosecutors nationwide committed to the goals of emptying prisons and allowing many accused criminals to walk free on soft or no charges.
In Cook County, Foxx instituted a host of policies and initiatives that have routinely placed her at odds with police and many in the public, including refusing to prosecute anyone who shoplifts less than $1,000 in merchandise from stores, and lax prosecution efforts against people accused of violent crimes, even those committed with guns.
These policy choices, at best, coincided with a sharp increase in criminal activity in Chicago and many surrounding suburbs on Foxx's watch. Critics say the policy and legal changes backed by Foxx, Preckwinkle and their allies have directly fueled the surge in gang shootings, armed robberies, carjackings, shoplifting and looting of stores, and other crimes.
During the campaign, O'Neill Burke notably pledged to end Foxx's policies on retail theft, and to return to abiding by the felony thresholds set by state law, prosecuting anyone charged with stealing at least $300 of merchandise.
O'Neill Burke also pledged to aggressively prosecute criminals charged with crimes involving guns, particularly criminals using weapons enhanced by so-called "bump stocks," which can give semi-automatic weapons greater firing speed capabilities, akin to fully automatic weapons, as well as those using handguns equipped with extended ammunition magazines.
O'Neill Burke further pledged to rebuild staffing levels at the State's Attorney's Office to allow the office to better meet its prosecutorial responsibilities and rebuild the working relationship between the State's Attorney's office and police.
O'Neill Burke did directly challenge Foxx, however, as Foxx announced in 2023 she would not seek a third term in office.
Rather than endorse O'Neill Burke, however, Preckwinkle and Democratic leadership in Cook County rallied behind Harris III, a longtime Democratic operative and lobbyist who praised Foxx's performance as state's attorney and said he would continue many of her policies.
O'Neill Burke won a close political primary battle, prevailing after 10 days of vote counting that saw Harris' vote totals follow an increasingly familiar pattern, in which left-wing candidates benefit from lopsided vote margins in late arriving mail-in ballots received up to two weeks following Election Day, as allowed by Illinois law.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling praised O'Neill Burke's policy changes. In a statement included in O'Neill Burke's release, Snelling said:
“As a police officer and Superintendent, I know too well the danger that assault weapons, illegal guns, and switches pose to the safety of our communities and the officers who serve them every single day. State's Attorney Burke's plan to crack down on offenders who use these dangerous weapons on our streets will help keep people safer in every neighborhood.”