Kwame Y. Raoul
Ken Dunkin
Rahm Emanuel
Mayor Rahm Emanuel today trumpeted a plan to reduce drug possession penalties and give police across the state the option to ticket some offenders rather than arrest them.
At the same time, he declined to back off from his call for tougher gun crime penalties — a push that irked many black state lawmakers and led to the creation of the criminal justice reform panel he spoke to during a hearing at the Bilandic Building.
The mayor’s pitch involved reducing the penalty for one gram or less of any controlled substance from a Class 4 felony to a Class A misdemeanor.
It would also allow police to write citations for anyone possessing 15 grams or less of marijuana instead of arresting them.
“It’s time in our criminal justice system to address real public safety challenges and build on the progress that’s been made. Lowering sentences will help free up resources,” he told members of the legislature’s Joint Criminal Justice Reform Committee, which is broadly looking for ways to alleviate pressure on the state’s overcrowded prison system.
But when Rep. Ken Dunkin, a Chicago Democrat and leader of the House black caucus, asked whether Emanuel would acquiesce to a reform plan that did not include mandatory minimums for gun crimes, he was non-committal.
“If this legislation does not have mandatory minimums in it, as you’ve advocated for, as well as your superintendent, would you be in favor of supporting it?” Dunkin asked.
“Well, as I said … details matter,” Emanuel said. “And I’m going to look at the whole bill. I believe the first step, though, is dealing with narcotics use, or the drug possession as we’ve talked about.
“But I do want to see focus on dealing with gun and violent crimes in the city of Chicago. I can’t answer a question about a hypothetical piece of legislation.”
Emanuel appeared with Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, and both insisted that even though they want more tools to deal with violent crime, it’s become less prevalent on their watch.
“The fact is, there has been a reduction in overall homicides, and it’s down now to the 1965 level,” said Emanuel, who did not take questions from reporters after the hearing.
But Dunkin disagreed with that characterization, saying the perception of the city is still one that involves rampant crime. He questioned both McCarthy’s job performance and the racial dynamics of his department’s tactics.
“Your superintendent has been here with us for almost four years, as long as you have,” Dunkin said.
“With the level of carnage and murder and mayhem in the black and brown communities, if that level of activity was occurring in Ravenswood where you live, the Lakeview neighborhood where others live, in other parts of the city … how would you rate him doing his job? You know how I feel.”
Emanuel responded with a deadpan delivery: “Really? I couldn’t tell.”
He said he thinks McCarthy is “doing a very good job,” and that the state can build on progress that Chicago has made.
After the hearing, Dunkin dismissed Emaunel’s visit as a political ploy.
“This discussion has always been a part of the overall comprehensive approach toward criminal justice reform,” he told reporters. “And there was nothing new. There was nothing fresh, nothing that we could add.”
Sen. Kwame Y. Raoul, a fellow Chicago Democrat who also serves on the reform committee, struck a different tone.
He said although he and the mayor might disagree on the methodology used to improve safety, they share the same goals.
“I don’t oppose punishing violent offenders — I just oppose casting a wide net,” he said.
Raoul expressed concern that mandatory-minimum proposals erode discretion from judges and place it in the hands of prosecutors who may not share the same goals of reducing incarceration.
He said there are different tools beyond mandatory minimums to make sure the correct individuals go to prison without also sending unintended people there as well.
“I think we agree on the people we want to send to prison,” he said.