Kwame Raoul

Name: Kwame Raoul

Age: 53

Party: Democratic

Current residence: Chicago

Current position: State senator, 13th District, Illinois General Assembly; partner, Quarles and Brady LLP

Past legal experience: Partner, Quarles and Brady, 2012-present; senior counsel for the City Colleges of Chicago; Litigating both civil and criminal trial and appellate matters before state and federal court as a partner in a boutique Chicago-area law firm; prosecutor, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office

Campaign funds available, July 1 to Dec. 31: $1,219,688.01

Campaign funds spent, July 1 to Dec. 31: $140,299.06

Law school: IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, 1993

Campaign website: kwameraoul.com

Family: Father of two children

Hobbies/interests: In my personal time, I am involved with various civic organizations including as a board member for International Child Care; a board member at the Legal Prep Charter School; an advisory board member for Youth Guidance — Becoming a Man program; and I serve on the steering committee for the American Heart Association — Counsel for a Cause.

What would you consider your greatest career accomplishment?

Throughout my career in Springfield, I been at the forefront of criminal justice reform, most importantly as the chief sponsor of the bill abolishing the death penalty in Illinois. I am proud of this not only because we had the sad reputation of being second in the country of sending people to death row for crimes they did not commit but also because it was achieved through a bipartisan effort. We didn’t have enough Democratic votes to do it alone, we had to have Republican votes on that as well. Even conservative Republicans voted for that because it was fair and it was necessary.

Why should voters support your candidacy?

I am running for attorney general of Illinois as a logical extension of my work and advocacy as an attorney and as a state legislator, and my priorities and goals for this office are consistent with my record.

During my 24 years of practicing law and 13 years in the state senate, I have been involved in a wide variety of vital issues in law and public policy, including voting rights, workers’ rights, criminal justice reform, public safety, consumer protection, education, health care access, the environment, the rights of domestic violence and sexual assault victims and the protection of working families. I began my career as a prosecutor, working for public safety and helping crime victims access the services they needed to participate in the justice system and rebuild their lives. I remained active in these areas as a legislator and expanded my involvement wherever I saw that systems could be made more equitable for ordinary Illinoisans.

What would be your top priority as attorney general?

I would bring to fruition the pilot trauma center program I pushed for in the General Assembly in order to address trauma stemming from the violent crime that ravages already under-resourced communities. Evidence shows that untreated trauma feeds the cycle of violent crime when violence becomes normalized in a community and victims are disproportionately likely to become the next perpetrators.

Having sponsored the legislation that created the public access counselor in the Attorney General’s Office, I plan to properly resource the office so as to eliminate the backlog of FOIA and Open Meetings Act complaints.

Another of my priorities as attorney general will be responding quickly and effectively to allegations of labor law violations through legislation I sponsored to expand the Workplace Rights Bureau.

Regarding the ongoing consent decree talks with the Chicago Police Department, what policies or measures do you view as being necessary for the department to adopt?

In the absence of substantive DOJ involvement, I believe this lawsuit can produce a consent decree that, in conjunction with recent legislative reforms I sponsored, pushes CPD to adopt reforms that prevent future Laquan McDonalds from falling victim to the consequences of poor training and discipline in law enforcement.

We must continue to pursue and build on the statewide police reforms were passed in the Police Reform and Community Relations Improvement Act (SB 1304) that have begun to improved police conduct and community relations with law enforcements through additional training and transparency.

It is also important that we enact laws requiring the licensing of police officers. As lawyers, if someone complains about the work or conduct of an attorney, the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) can remove or revoke a license. This should also be the case for public safety officers.

How do you view the attorney general’s role in conjunction with the federal government?

The office of a state attorney general has become a position of heightened importance during the Trump presidency, because this administration in particular has aggressively sought to roll back federal policies that protect the legal and constitutional rights of ordinary people living in Illinois and throughout the country. Whether independently or in concert with attorneys general of other states, the Illinois Attorney General must be prepared to combat this administration’s attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act by eliminating insurance subsidies and related regulations, roll back protections for students victimized by campus sexual assault and student loan fraud, weaken penalties for nursing homes where patients are put at risk, end guaranteed fair access online and expose voters to attacks on their privacy and potentially discriminatory voter roll purges through the Crosscheck database. I will sustain Illinois’ involvement in ongoing multi-state lawsuits against the federal government and will stand ready to defend the rights of Illinois residents whenever they are put in jeopardy.

As a child of Haitian immigrants, I am sensitive to the mistreatment of immigrants, particularly “Dreamers” and those fleeing oppression, who are making a contribution to our society and economy. The time and resources of local law enforcement officers are occupied with fighting crime and protecting residents; they have neither the capacity nor the training to also act as immigration officials, nor should they be put in this position.

Do you believe state employees should be paid absent an appropriation? Would you go to court to block their pay if they continued receiving checks absent a budget?

I would not go to court to block state worker pay in the event of a budget stalemate caused by partisan conflicts in Springfield, especially when the basis of those conflicts are not budget-related. It is unfair, contrary to sound labor practices and detrimental to public safety to hold state employees hostage to the kind of political brinkmanship Gov. Rauner has routinely practiced.

It is the attorney general’s job to both enforce the laws of Illinois and advocate for the protection of the residents of our state, and a failure to appropriate for the payment of state worker salaries during a budget stalemate forces a difficult balance. Many state workers provide critical, often life-or-death services in the areas of public safety, mental health, public health, emergency response, child welfare, transportation safety and more. I will always put the safety of Illinoisans first.