Rich Miller
Pols should learn from Burke verdict
.
By Rich Miller
.
Perhaps the weakest federal criminal charge against former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke was about his plot to extort the Chicago Field Museum because a friend’s daughter never heard back about an internship after Burke sent over her resume.
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Kendall seemed “unimpressed” by federal prosecutors’ reasoning in mid-December after Burke’s legal team moved to dismiss the charge ahead of closing arguments, according to Tribune reporter Jason Meisner.
Judge Kendall ultimately decided not to dismiss the charge, but said, “It certainly is an extremely odd attempted extortion count. I’m going to allow it to go to the jury, but I’m taking it under advisement,” Meisner reported at the time.
Burke’s lawyers had argued that to be convicted of extortion, the government must prove that the defendant knowingly took a substantial step toward extortion with the intent to commit extortion.
Burke had already hired his old friend’s daughter by the time of his conversations with the folks at the Field Museum, his attorneys pointed out. “In fact, he specifically repudiated the Field Museum’s overtures” about working something out, they maintained.
Burke did snap at a governmental relations staffer who’d called to see if he was opposed to the Field Museum’s admission price increase proposal because Burke had earlier come out hard against another museum’s entry fee request with the Chicago Park District. Burke said he was angry that the museum had dropped the ball on the internship application and asked, “So now, you’re going to make a request of me?”
“I’m sure I know what you want to do,” Burke said. “Because if the chairman of the Committee on Finance [Burke] calls the president of the park board, your proposal is going to go nowhere.”
The employee testified that she perceived that as a “threat.”
But Burke didn’t try to stop the park district from ultimately approving the fee hike, and while the museum offered to find another spot for the young woman, she never acted on that. And Burke’s lawyers claimed that the governmental relations person wasn’t a “decision maker” at the museum, pointed out that Burke had no direct control over the park district and that the museum’s CEO testified he didn’t believe he’d been shaken down.
“The requirement of proving a substantial step serves to distinguish people who pose real threats from those who are all hot air,” Burke’s lawyers quoted from an appellate court case, U.S. v. Gladish. Judge Richard Posner continued in that 2008 opinion: “You are not punished just for saying that you want or even intend to kill someone, because most such talk doesn’t lead to action. You have to do something that makes it reasonably clear that had you not been interrupted or made a mistake … you would have completed the crime.”
To be abundantly clear, this is in no way a defense of Ed Burke. He bullied people for decades and, hey, what goes around comes around. And he was not only convicted on the Field Museum charges, but on a whole lot of other, more concrete and straightforward charges – which might possibly have helped buttress the case that Burke did indeed make a “real threat” against the museum.
Instead, this is a warning to everyone else in the political business.
The federal government has now convicted a former elected government official for making an oblique threat that he never followed through on (the museum’s fee hike was approved soon after) over his personal embarrassment that an internship application of the daughter of an old and dear friend that he’d forwarded had been lost in a bureaucratic shuffle.
I’ve been around long enough to know that this sort of thing is not a rare event in government at just about every level.
A lawmaker, for instance, feels insulted. So, in anger, the legislator makes a likely empty threat to retaliate on a bill, or an appropriation, or whatever. And maybe the threat isn’t even all that empty.
Don’t do it.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
Local News
Tabares backs West Lawn Branch Library
Spread the love Twenty-third Ward Ald. Silvana Tabares (left) recently toured the renovated West Lawn Branch Library, 4020 W. 63rd St.,, with new branch manager Mina Duarte. Details about the renovation’s may be found in the West Lawn column in the January 28 Greater Southwest News-Herald. –Supplied photo
Chuy backs Starbucks unionization
Spread the love U.S. Rep Jesús “Chuy” García (D-4th), white mask, recently stood with those who support unionization of Starbucks workers, outside a shop in the city. Workers are attempting to organize under the banner of Chicago and Midwest Joint Board, Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. –Supplied photo
‘Grizzled’ sophomores help Naz beat Marist
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Nazareth’s “grizzled veterans” have won 19 of their first 20 games. The Roadrunners’ were victorious in a big East Suburban Catholic Conference showdown with Marist, with two sophomores doing most of the damage in a 53-42 win in LaGrange Park on Jan. 19. Nazareth improved to 19-1, 4-0.…
Postseason Sports Report: Area stars ready for state bowling and dancing
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The first two IHSA state tournaments for winter sports will take place this weekend, and an army of area athletes will be competing in both. The boys bowling and competitive dance championships will be held Friday and Saturday, with the bowlers heading to St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon…
Strus tops former coach in Stagg’s win over Sandburg
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer Marty Strus has nothing but good things to say about his former high school coach, John Daniels. “He’s meant a ton to me,” Strus said of the coach he faced off against last week when his Stagg Chargers took on Sandburg. “He meant a lot to me as…
Palos Area Chamber dedicated to promoting area
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Dedicated to helping local area businesses strive is the Palos Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber was formed in 1949 when a small group of merchants joined together for the purpose of advancing economic, industrial, professional, cultural, and civic welfare of the Palos Heights area. For 68 years, the Palos…
We need real solutions to crime
Spread the loveBy Peggy Zabicki Your correspondent in West Lawn 3633 W. 60th Place • (773) 504-9327 Crime and safety concerns are the number one topic of all the calls and texts I receive. It seems that many politicians offer no solutions except the usual lists of ways to keep safe. I think everyone knows about locking…
Icy spill yielded plenty of good will
Spread the loveBy Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Here is a giant shout out to our first responders in the community. On Jan. 9, when a sheet of ice descended on Chicago, I was walking the dog. Walking around Peck School was great.…
It’s a busy January in Gage Park
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Neighborhood correspondent at large Greetings, Gage Parkers! I’m pleased to be filling in this week for Karen Sala. It’s fun for me to report on Gage Park, the neighborhood where I lived for the first 26 years of my life. There’s always something happening in this big, exciting part of…
Neighbors
Riot Fest abandons Chicago park for SeatGeek Stadium
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Last year, Lyrical Lemonade moved its Summer Smash hip-hop music festival from Chicago’s Douglass Park to Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium. Thousands of fans poured into the stadium at 7100 S. Harlem Ave. over the course of three days and, by most accounts, enjoyed the experience. Summer Smash returned to SeatGeek this…
Comings & Goings: Orland Park Summerfest returns this weekend
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Back for a second go round this weekend is the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce’s Summerfest. The event combines a carnival, live music, an array of dining options and a car show, at the 153rd Street Metra Station location in Orland Park and will run from Friday, June 14,…
Repair Cafe this Saturday at Township of Lyons HQ
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Repair cafes have become quite the thing for the Township of Lyons. So much so that another repair cafe will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, June 15, at the township office, 6404 Joliet Road in Countryside. A repair café held in May was a smashing…
‘They didn’t have to kill my brother’ – sister of slain Bridgeview man
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Arturo Cantu should be celebrating two big events this weekend. He would have celebrated his 40th birthday on June 14. And, a sister said, he would have enjoyed Father’s Day on Sunday, spending time with family and his two young children. Instead, 10 family members and friends gathered in a…
‘You just learn to live with the pain’
Spread the loveStatus hearing in July for McCook murder By Steve Metsch The attorney representing a Chicago man charged with murdering a Blue Island man in McCook in February told a judge Wednesday there’s been “a significant and outstanding discovery in this matter.” Attorney Damon Cheronis made his comment before Cook County Circuit Court Judge…
Man shot in La Grange; suspect arrested in Stickney
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch A man was shot Tuesday afternoon in La Grange, according to a news release received Wednesday from the police department. A suspect has been apprehended, the release said. The shooting victim remains in stable condition at a local hospital, the release said. La Grange Police, working with the Major Case…
Softball | Marist will play for state title for fourth straight season
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist returned to the state title game for the fourth straight season with a 7-1 victory over Mundelein in the semifinals, held June 7 at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria. The Mustangs (36-2) were making their first appearance at state since 1996. “We have a core group of returners,”…
McCook building inspector retires after 18 years
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch After 18 years of inspecting buildings, be it a modest bi-level house or a sprawling multi-million-dollar warehouse, Terrence Hickey is retiring from the village of McCook. His retirement takes effect June 28, Mayor Terrance Carr said during the June 3 meeting of the village board. “I’m jealous,” Carr said. “(He’s…
New Summit Girl Scout troop off and running
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan There’s a new Girl Scout Troop in Summit, and they have been busy. Troop 56615 is made up of girls from Summit School District 104 from first-grade to third-grade, and between 7-9 years old, making them Brownies in the scouting world. They have 10 girls so far, and Troop Leader…