Chicago City Wire

GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is advocating for a recall provision that would allow voters to remove politicians.

He used activist prosecutor Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx as an example.

“The failings of Kim Foxx in her role as State’s Attorney in Cook County provide compelling arguments for there to be a recall provision in Cook County,” Bailey said. “The job of a prosecutor is to prosecute crimes. She is deliberately refusing to do her job and has demonstrated that she is not fit to serve as Cook County State’s Attorney. It is time for a recall provision in Cook County to allow voters to recall failed politicians like Kim Foxx.”

James Murphy III, a former supervisor in Foxx’s office overseeing felony bail hearings and grand jury matters, slammed Foxx for her office’s failures.

“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," Murphy said in a letter announcing his resignation. "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. 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.”

Murphy also criticized the SAFE-T Act set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. It will remove cash bail from criminal cases. The prosecution has the burden of proof under the SAFE-T Act if they think a person accused of a crime should be kept in jail. Detention is only permitted under the law if it is proven that the defendant "poses a specific, real and present threat to a person or has a high likelihood of willful flight." 

Others have been critical of the SAFE-T Act. 

"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. "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, Foxx infamously at first sought not to charge a separate shootout involving gang members.