Cook County State’s Attorney marks Two Years in Office

Cook County State’s Attorney marks Two Years in Office

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Let’s turn the clock back…to an election that garnered lots of attention following the 2014 police shooting of African American teenager Laquan McDonald. The incumbent was Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. She was heavily criticized for her handling of the case- charging the officer involved 13 months after the shooting and only hours before the infamous dashcam video of the incident was finally released. Her opponent was Kim Foxx, an African American Cook County Prosecutor who grew up around violence as a kid living in the Cabrini Green Homes.Today marks two years since Foxx won that election, after promising to bring a change in the way her office does things- from prosecuting violent crimes to how bond is determined to implementation of  civil forfeiture laws. Since Foxx assumed her role as Cook County State’s Attorney… her office has vacated criminal convictions for dozens of people under the Conviction Integrity Unit….and she recently moved to vacate the convictions of eight people whose cases were based on the misconduct of a former Chicago Police Sergeant. She talked with us about the work of her office since her election two years ago today.