WBEZ | chicago politics

William Beavers argues jury selection fundamentally flawed

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:35:00 -0500

A Chicago Democrat is asking a judge to toss his tax-evasion conviction, arguing that the selection of jurors in the district is fundamentally flawed and resulted in no black men on his jury.

William Beavers' attorneys made that argument in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Jurors convicted the 78-year-old Cook County commissioner earlier this year for not declaring campaign cash he used to gamble as income.

Beavers is black. His lawyers say a jury of his peers should have included at least a few African-American males. There was one African-American female juror.

The 26-page motion filed late Monday says the district's practice of drawing jury pools randomly from voter registration lists is more likely to exclude African-Americans.

It claims older whites are overrepresented on the lists.

Jurors endure hours of tax testimony at Beavers' federal tax trial

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:29:00 -0500

Prosecutors in the federal trial of William Beavers on Monday showed jurors how the Cook County commissioner got hit with a nearly $28,000 tax bill in 2005, then reported no income from his campaign accounts for the three years that followed.

Beavers’ tax evasion trial centers on charges he spent $221,000 from his campaign and County Board accounts between 2006 and 2008, but lied on legal documents to cover his tracks and avoid paying taxes on the money.

Jurors endured hours of dry testimony Monday morning, as prosecutors led Beavers’ accountant, Philip Achusim, through a line-by-line explanation of four years’ worth of tax returns and earnings documents. The commissioner himself, dressed in a dark gray suit and crimson tie, sat expressionless.

But in showing Beavers’ return from 2005, the government is trying to strike at the heart of the defense’s main argument: The commissioner loaned himself the campaign cash and always intended to pay it back.

The government showed jurors that Beavers did claim $43,000 in campaign money as income in 2005, according to testimony from Beavers’ accountant, Philip Achusim. The government also showed how Beavers got slammed with a $27,814 tax bill that year, which took him years to pay off.

After 2005, Achusim testified, Beavers didn’t report any campaign cash on his tax returns.

Federal prosecutors also continued to hammer at Beavers for his gambling habit, highlighting his six digit gambling losses each year between 2006 and 2008.

A former worker at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., testified last week that Beavers spent at least $500,000 a year playing slot machines.

The government said Monday it has several more witnesses to go through this week before the defense makes its case. Beavers’ lawyers have maintained the money he took out of his campaign accounts was in the form of loans, and so the commissioner doesn’t have to pay taxes on it. They also blame Cook County for failing to report as income Beavers’ $1,200 monthly stipend.

Gag order against attorneys in William Beavers tax trial

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:30:00 -0500

The judge in the tax-evasion trial of an influential Chicago Democrat has imposed a gag order on attorneys a day after a defense lawyer said jury-pool selection was "rigged."

The judge in William Beavers' trial on Wednesday did not refer directly to the comments made by the Cook County Commissioner's lawyer, Sam Adam Sr.

But Judge James Zagel's meaning was clear. He said statements from attorneys in public during a trial often "distracted" from "the purpose of the trial."

Adam angrily told reporters Tuesday that he was "outraged" there were no black men in the 50-person jury pool. And he suggested its composition was somehow fixed in advance.

Jury selection is done using a random system and is carried out by an independent office within the federal courthouse in Chicago.

Cook County Commissioner William Beavers corruption trial off to slow start

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:04:00 -0500

Cook County Commissioner William Beavers’ corruption trial got off to a slow start Monday.

Beavers and his attorneys appeared in court to go over some last minute details of the case. Some of the discussion was about jury selection, which now is scheduled to start Tuesday. Prosecutors also said they intend to bring up the commissioner’s 2005 tax returns in their opening statements.

Judge James Zagel says he wants the jury to be anonymous until after the verdict because of the media attention.

After the hearing, Beavers told reporters he wants to testify because prosecutors quote “tell some tall tales” and he wants to straighten them out.

“The problem here is you all think the government is so smart, that they can defeat everybody,” Beavers said. “Their thing is if you plead guilty. They try their best to get you to plead guilty. They don’t win that many cases. They get people to plea. I’m not pleading.”

Beavers is charged with not paying taxes on campaign funds that he allegedly used for personal expenses.

Widening of Chicago's gun offender registry law raising civil rights issues

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:04:00 -0600

Proposed changes to Chicago’s gun offender registry law have raised some civil liberty issues.

The proposal widens the current law to include anyone who commits a violent crime with a firearm.

Supporters, like Alderman Ed Burke (14th), say that widening the net will help police and parents keep better tabs on gun offenders in their communities.

That’s because new gun offenders under the revised law will be added to an online pool of current gun offenders that is accessible to the public.

Alderman Emma Mitts is on the public safety committee that passed the ordinance.

She wasn’t included in the unanimous voice vote because she left the meeting early. Mitts said this would be a good tool for police, but worried about its impact on citizens.

“I’m sure it would not be good for people of my color,” she said. “It’s just another tool that’s going to be used against them, especially minors.”

Similar to Chicago’s sex offender registry, Chicago residents can search for gun offenders in their neighborhoods by putting their address into a search box on the police department's website.

Search results include a photo of the offender, details of their conviction and other information.

Matthew Robison is a civil rights lawyer with Barrido and Robison LLC in Chicago.

He said even though offenders will only be on the gun offender registry list for four years, it could have a lasting impact on people's reputations.

“What is placed on the Internet can’t be undone,” he said. “So the question is not as much should we be ostracizing or dehumanizing these people, although that’s a question in it of itself, so much as who it is that we’re going to subject to this.”

Robison said it’s important that there’s a balance between the right of the public to have this information about gun offenders versus the right of gun offenders to live a private life.

“I think what legislators all over the country [need to] figure out where that balance lies,” he said.

The revised ordinance will be up for a vote at next week’s city council meeting.

Biden: Illinois election sends message on guns

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:39:00 -0600

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden argued Wednesday that the primary election victory of a gun control advocate to represent Illinois in Congress sends a message that voters won't stand for inaction in response to shooting violence after the Connecticut school shooting.

Robin Kelly was elected Tuesday as the Democratic nominee in a Chicago-area district to replace former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., forced out in an ethics scandal, after running on gun control. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's political fund poured $2 million into television ads against an opponent who had been highly rated by the National Rifle Association.

"For the first time since Newtown, voters sent a clear unequivocal signal," Biden told state attorneys general gathered at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington.

"The voters sent a message last night, not just to the NRA but to the politicians all around the country by electing Robin Kelly, who stood up, who stood strong for gun safety totally consistent with our Second Amendment rights," Biden said. "The message is there will be a moral price as well as a political price to be paid for inaction. This is not 1994. People know too much."

In 1994, Congress passed an assault weapons ban and some lawmakers who supported it paid an electoral price by being voted out of office. But Biden argued the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 students and six workers has changed the gun debate in a way he's never seen.

"This senseless act not only shocked the conscience of the American people, but I believe it has changed and galvanized the attitude of the American people demanding concrete action. I've been doing this for a long time. The public mood has changed," Biden said, his voice rising to a yell. "The excuse that it's too politically risky to act is no longer acceptable. We cannot remain silent. We have to become the voices of those 20 beautiful children."

Biden has been the White House's leader on pushing for gun control legislation, including a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and a push for universal background checks. The vice president planned to meet later in the day with Bloomberg at the White House.

Anti-gun Democrat wins primary to replace Jackson Jr.

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:10:00 -0600

The newly elected Democratic nominee to replace disgraced former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. vowed to become a leader in the fight for federal gun control and directly challenged the National Rifle Association in her victory speech.

Robin Kelly, a former state representative, emerged early as a voice for gun control after Jackson resigned in November. Then she gained huge momentum when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC poured $2 million into anti-gun television ads that blasted one of her Democratic opponents, former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, for receiving a previous high rating from the NRA.

Kelly supports an assault weapons ban, while Halvorson does not.

"We were on the right side of the issue, and our message resonated," Kelly said shortly after her win.

In her victory speech, she promised to fight "until gun violence is no longer a nightly feature on the evening news" and directly addressed the NRA, saying "their days of holding our country hostage are coming to an end."

Bloomberg called Kelly's win an important victory for "common-sense leadership" on gun violence, saying in a statement that voters nationwide are demanding change.

But other Democratic front-runners accused Bloomberg of buying a race and interfering in the heavily urban district that also includes some Chicago suburbs and rural areas.

"It shows, unfortunately, you can't go up against that big money. ... That's the problem with super PACs," said Halvorson, who unsuccessfully challenged Jackson in a primary last year. "There is nothing I could have done differently."

Because the district is overwhelmingly Democratic, Kelly's primary win all but assures she will sail through the April 9 general election and head to Washington.

In the Republican contest, Chicago resident Paul McKinley led Eric Wallace, a publisher of Christian books, by 23 votes with a handful of precincts still uncounted. McKinley, a former felon, describes himself as a grassroots activist on behalf of ex-offenders.

The race was the district's first wide-open primary since 1995, when Jackson was first elected to Congress. He resigned in November after a months-long medical leave for treatment of bipolar disorder and other issues, then pleaded guilty this month to spending $750,000 in campaign money on lavish personal items.

Even with his legal saga playing out in the courts, the gun debate dominated the primary, which featured 14 Democrats. The election came after Chicago saw its deadliest January in more than a decade, including the fatal shooting of an honors student just days after she performed at President Barack Obama's second inauguration.

Political experts and fellow candidates said the super PAC money made all the difference, particularly in an election with a short primary and low voter turnout.

"The money bought Kelly a tremendous among of attention," said Laura Washington, a political analyst in Chicago. "She tapped into a real hard nerve out there in the community. People are really concerned about gun control and violence. She was smart to focus like a laser on that issue."

Bloomberg's entrance into the race became controversial, at least with the candidates and some voters.

The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent has long taken a vocal stance against guns. He launched his super PAC weeks before the November election and spent more than $12 million to back seven candidates nationwide, including newly elected Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod, a California Democrat who ousted an incumbent during a race where guns were an issue.

On Tuesday, Kelly told supporters that she would work with Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to get gun control legislation through Congress.

However, gun-rights advocates dismissed the notion that Kelly's election and Bloomberg's attention would fuel the debate on gun control.

"This is an aberration," said Illinois State Rifle Association spokesman Richard Pearson. "This shows what you can do with $2 million in an offseason race. He bought the election."

Another Democratic front-runner, Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale, also took issue with the ads, saying people were "extremely upset" that someone from New York was trying to tell people in Illinois how to vote.

"That's what money gets you," he said after conceding the race. "We earned every vote."

Roughly 14 percent of registered voters came to the polls, an estimate Chicago officials called the lowest turnout in decades. Adding to the problem was a blast of wintry weather that snarled traffic and could have kept some voters home.

But those who did cast ballots indicated that guns, ethics and economic woes were on their minds.

Mary Jo Higgins of Steger, a south Chicago suburb, said she voted for Halvorson because the former congresswoman was "the only Democrat who believes in the Second Amendment."

But Country Club Hills minister Rosemary Gage said she voted for Kelly because she was "standing with (Obama) and trying to get rid of guns."

"It's really bad in Chicago and across the country," Gage said. "Too many children have died."

Bloomberg ads draw candidates' ire in Illinois

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:56:00 -0600

Two candidates to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress say voters should send a message that money cannot buy the election.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super PAC has spent more than $2 million on ads attacking former Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson over her positions on guns.

Halvorson says if the ads are successful Bloomberg will try to "buy seats" across the country. She says "we can't let that happen."

Alderman Anthony Beale says voters are "extremely upset" that someone from New York is trying to tell people in Illinois how to vote. He predicts there will be a "backlash."

Halvorson, Beale and former state Rep. Robin Kelly are considered front runners in Tuesday's Democratic primary.

Jackson resigned in November. He pleaded guilty this month to misusing campaign funds.

Voters head to polls in ex-Rep. Jackson's district

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:03:00 -0600

After a fierce primary campaign dominated by gun control, ethics and economic woes, voters were choosing the likely replacement for Jesse Jackson Jr. on Tuesday, three months after his legal troubles and battle with depression forced the son of the civil rights leader to resign from Congress.

The Democratic front-runners — former state Rep. Robin Kelly, former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale — made Election Day stops through the blistery winter weather at train stations and restaurants in the district, which spans Chicago's South Side, south suburbs and some rural areas.

They were among 14 Democrats and four Republicans in the special primary, but the Democratic winner was expected to sail through the April 9 general election because the area is heavily Democratic.

Halvorson, who lost a primary challenge to Jackson last year, has been targeted for her position on gun control, which became a key issue in the district, parts of which have been deeply affected by Chicago's gun violence.

Independence USA, the super PAC of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, poured more than $2 million into the race for anti-gun ads in support of Kelly and against Halvorson, a former state lawmaker and one-term congresswoman. Kelly supports an assault-weapons ban, but Halvorson does not.

After casting her ballot, Halvorson warned that if the ads are successful Bloomberg will try to "buy seats" across the country.

"We can't let that happen," she said.

Beale also took issue with the ads, saying people are "extremely upset" that someone from New York is trying to tell people in Illinois how to vote and predicting that there will be a "backlash."

The guns issue dominated candidate forums and television ads and also appeared to have resonated with voters.

Mary Jo Higgins of south suburban Steger said she voted for Halvorson because the former congresswoman is "the only Democrat who believes in the Second Amendment."

But Country Club Hills minister Rosemary Gage voted for Kelly because the former state lawmaker is "standing with (President Barack Obama) and trying to get rid of guns."

"It's really bad in Chicago and across the country," Gage said. "Too many children have died."

The issue of ethics was also on the minds of voters, particularly as Jackson's legal saga has been playing out in federal court. He pleaded guilty early this month to charges that accused him of misspending $750,000 in campaign money on lavish personal items, including a Rolex watch and furs.

His departure created a rare opening in the district, where voters haven't seen an open primary since 1995, when Jackson first won office.

Halvorson was greeted by cheers of "good luck" and "go Debbie go" as she cast her ballot at a suburban community center in the village of Steger. Speaking afterward, she said it was time for voters to close the chapter on Jackson's ethical problems and send someone to Washington who could hit the ground running.

Halvorson is counting on voters in the southern, more rural part of the district, where she grew up.

David Berchem, a retired painter, said he voted for Halvorson because he believes she will represent all residents of the district and she's "as honest a person as you can find."

Beale voted at a school in Chicago, while Kelly voted early.

Beale touted his record as a job creator for the South Side ward he represents in Chicago's City Council.

That's the reason Juanita Williams, who went to school with Beale, said she voted for him Tuesday, noting that he helped bring a Wal-Mart to the area. The 47-year-old assistant teacher also said Beale has regularly provided school supplies and Christmas gifts to needy students.

Election officials in the three counties covering the district reported no problems at the polls, even though voters and poll workers had to contend with a blustery mix of snow and sleet. Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation deployed extra resources to keep polls accessible.

Jackson is the third consecutive congressman from the district to leave office under an ethical or legal cloud. He resigned in November after a months-long medical leave for treatment of bipolar disorder and other issues.

Turnout at the polls was extremely low, according to early estimates, and election officials said the weather might have kept some voters on the fence at home.

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said roughly 11 percent of registered Chicago voters in the district had voted through early afternoon, including early and absentee ballots. Final projections were expected to be in the mid-teens, still one of the lowest turnouts in recent decades. Election officials in Will and Kankakee counties said turnout hovered around 10 percent.

The last time the Chicago area had a special primary election for Congress was in 2009, after Rahm Emanuel left his seat to take a job as White House chief of staff. Roughly 18 percent of registered voters in the district spanning North Side neighborhoods voted. In suburban Cook County, the percentage was far lower.

Low voter turnout expected in Jesse Jackson Jr. district

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:11:00 -0600

Low voter turnout is expected in the race to replace former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and some election officials worry winter weather may further complicate things.

Nearly two dozen candidates are running in Tuesday's special primary in Illinois' 2nd District, which includes Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs.

Early voting has been paltry.

In Chicago, roughly 2 percent of registered voters cast early ballots. The number is up slightly compared to a special primary election in 2009.

Overall, Chicago turnout in the 2009 primary was 18 percent. In suburban Cook County, turnout was roughly 10 percent, including early votes.

The National Weather Service has issued a storm watch for northern Illinois including Cook County.

Election officials say they're communicating with streets and sanitation workers to make sure pathways to polls are clear.