Dupage Policy Journal

Republican state Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove) thinks Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx will pay a steep price with voters for her handling of the Jussie Smollet hate crime debacle.

“I believe she made a terrible mistake,” Oberweis said in a statement about Foxx's curious move to drop all charges against the “Empire” actor despite police investigators' assertion that the hate crime case he filed was a complete hoax. “I don’t understand her reasoning. I’m not sure if it might be possible for her to reverse her decision and threaten to prosecute or negotiate a plea. I believe she should be reprimanded and the voters are likely to do so at the next opportunity.”

Foxx has faced mounting criticism in the ongoing scandal, some of the latest coming from inside her own office. Earlier this month, CWB Chicago printed a letter written by someone identified as an “assistant state’s attorney in Foxx’s office” that derided her handling of the case and essentially turning the episode into a referendum on race relations in the city.

Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove)

“The State’s Attorney’s Office is an international laughingstock, as politicians, comedians, scholars, legal pundits and regular ol’ citizens alike blast its handling of the case against Jussie Smollett,” the letter stated. “The criticism is pointed squarely at Kim Foxx, the first African American female elected to fill the prestigious role of Cook County State’s Attorney.”

In the writer’s mind, the issue of race should be a nominal one.

“It isn’t about race, it’s about basic legal ethics,” the letter stated. “This case was handled markedly different from any other case at 26th Street. No one knows why, and more importantly, no one can explain why our boss, the head prosecutor of all of Cook County, has decided to so demean and debase both our hard work, and our already tenuous relationship with the Chicago Police Department.”