Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association<\/p>\n
The Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association serves as the voice for nearly 1,000 front line prosecutors across the State who work tirelessly towards the pursuit of justice.\u00a0 The events of the past few days regarding the Cook County State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s handling of the Jussie Smollett case is not condoned by the IPBA, nor is it representative of the honest ethical work prosecutors provide to the citizens of the State of Illinois on a daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n The manner in which this case was dismissed was abnormal and unfamiliar to those who practice law in criminal courthouses across the State.\u00a0 Prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges alike do not recognize the arrangement Mr. Smollett received.\u00a0 Even more problematic, the State\u2019s Attorney and her representatives have fundamentally misled the public on the law and circumstances surrounding the dismissal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The public has the right to know the truth, and we set out to do that here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When an elected State\u2019s Attorney recuses herself from a prosecution, Illinois law provides that the court shall appoint a special prosecutor.\u00a0 See 55 ILCS 5\/3-9008(a-15).\u00a0 Typically, the special prosecutor is a neighboring State\u2019s Attorney, the Attorney General, or the State Appellate Prosecutor. \u00a0Here, the State\u2019s Attorney kept the case within her office and thus never actually recused herself as a matter of law.<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, the Cook County State\u2019s Attorney\u2019s office falsely informed the public that the uncontested sealing of the criminal court case was \u201cmandatory\u201d under Illinois law.\u00a0 This statement is not accurate.\u00a0 To the extent the case was even eligible for an immediate seal, that action was\u00a0discretionary<\/em>, not mandatory, and only upon the proper filing of a petition to seal. \u00a0See 20 ILCS 2630\/5.2(g)(2).\u00a0 For seals not subject to Section 5.2(g)(2), the process employed in this case by the State\u2019s Attorney effectively denied law enforcement agencies of legally required Notice (See 20 ILCS 2630\/5.2(d)(4)) and the legal opportunity to object to the sealing of the file (See 20 ILCS 2630\/5.2(d)(5)). \u00a0The State\u2019s Attorney not only declined to fight the sealing of this case in court, but then provided false information to the public regarding it.<\/span><\/p>\n The appearance of impropriety here is compounded by the fact that this case was not on the regularly scheduled court call, the public had no reasonable notice or opportunity to view these proceedings, and the dismissal was done abruptly at what has been called an \u201cemergency\u201d hearing.\u00a0 To date, the nature of the purported emergency has not been publicly disclosed.\u00a0 The sealing of a court case immediately following a hearing where there was no reasonable notice or opportunity for the public to attend is a matter of grave public concern and undermines the very foundation of our public court system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lastly, the State\u2019s Attorney has claimed this arrangement is \u201cavailable to all defendants\u201d and \u201cnot a new or unusual practice.\u201d\u00a0 There has even been an implication it was done in accordance with a statutory diversion program.\u00a0 These statements are plainly misleading and inaccurate.\u00a0 This action was highly unusual, not a statutory diversion program, and not in accordance with<\/span>\u00a0well accepted practices of State\u2019s Attorney initiated diversionary programs<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 The IPBA supports diversion programs, and recognizes the many benefits they provide to the community, the defendant and to the prosecuting agency.\u00a0 Central to any diversion program, however, is that the defendant must accept responsibility. \u00a0To be clear here, this simply was not a deferred prosecution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Prosecutors must be held to the highest standard of legal ethics in the pursuit of justice.\u00a0 The actions of the Cook County State\u2019s Attorney have fallen woefully short of this expectation.\u00a0 Through the repeated misleading and deceptive statements to the public on Illinois law and circumstances surrounding the Smollett dismissal, the State\u2019s Attorney has failed in her most fundamental ethical obligations to the public.\u00a0 The IPBA condemns these actions.<\/span><\/p>\n This irregular arrangement was an affront to prosecutors across the State, the Chicago Police Department, victims of hate crimes, and the people of the City of Chicago and Cook County.\u00a0 We strongly encourage our members and the public to review the National District Attorneys Associations statement on<\/span>\u00a0prosecutorial best practices in high profile cases<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n