They Keep Shooting In Chicago (Because Liberals Let Them)

The Chicago Sun-Times has a must-read article in their July 24 issue. It is the story, as staft reporters Mark J. Konkol and Frank Main write, "of why they won’t stop shooting in Chicago." Konkol and Main deserve both credit and criticism for their article. Credit, of course, for reporting well on that which they did include in the story. Criticism, also, for what they did not include. The essence of the story is that the criminals have little incentive to stop, and Konkol and Main go right into the fact that the criminal justice system is soft on the criminals. What they omit, and shamefully, is why the justice system is so lax. Here's a clue: You will not find these words anywhere in the article: ACLU, liberals, leftists, legislators, judges. Inasmuch as those are five of the primary reasons that criminals get off so lightly, it is profoundly troubling that they were not mentioned at all. An excerpt from the article: It’s told by the wounded, the accused and the officers who were on the street during a weekend in April 2008 when 40 people were shot, seven fatally. Two years later, the grim reality is this: Nearly all of the shooters from that weekend have escaped charges. “You don’t go to jail for shooting people,” says Dontae Gamble, who took six bullets that weekend, only to see his alleged shooter walk free. “That’s why m------------- think they can get back on the streets and kill again. You feel me?” So far, not one accused shooter has been convicted of pulling the trigger during those deadly 59 hours from April 18-20 of that year, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found. Shame on the two reporters and their editors for leaving out such critical parts of the story. They vaguely alluded to the problem, but just couldn't bring themselves to cite those who are to blame for the system's failures: “The certainty of punishment is very, very low in Chicago, and that’s going to embolden people,” said defense attorney Thomas Needham, who was a top legal adviser to former police Supt. Terry Hillard. “It’s going to lead to less fear by the people who are going to consider shooting. That’s very alarming.” The next time you hear any politician in Chicago or Springfield claim to be tough on crime, laugh bitterly and say, "You must be shitting me," immediately followed up with "What have you done to ensure the conviction of violent criminals?" You might also ask them when Governor George Ryan's moratorium on the death penalty will be trashed. RELATED: ACLU Favors Criminals (As Always) Stop The ACLU The effects of Liberalism on the American justice system RepubliKid