"Wrongful convictions of men and women for violent crimes in Illinois have cost taxpayers $214 million and have imprisoned innocent people for 926 years." —And most of that price tag is the cost of settlements. And: "government error and misconduct appeared in 81 out of the 85 cases."
Illinois Democrats, already concerned about losing the races for Senate and governor this fall, have apparently decided to turn a potential drubbing into a full-on trainwreck. Scott Lee Cohen — a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor — was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife to a former live-in girlfriend's neck, newly obtained court records show.
The misdemeanor charge against Cohen was dropped weeks later when the woman — who had just been found guilty of prostitution — failed to show up to testify, according to those records.
Incredibly, if probably predictably, [...]
More disturbing news from Illinois' Burr Oak Cemetery, where four employees were arrested for exhuming up to 300 bodies and dumping them elsewhere to resell the plots.
"Rich Whitney is the Green party candidate for governor in Illinois this year. But there's been a small matter of a typo on the state's electronic voting machines. On electronic voting machines in 23 wards — about half of which are predominantly African-American districts — Whitney's name is set to appear as 'Rich Whitey'." Whitney is obviously upset about the whole thing, but I would be more concerned if I were the Republican nominee, because my base is pretty primed to vote for "Rich Whitey" most of the time. There's plenty of cause for confusion there.
I wasn't sure any political ad could top James Perry of New Orleans' recent salvo, but here's a radio spot for Illinois State Senator Rickey "Hollywood" Hendon, who is running in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. I would vote for him based on this ad alone. [Via]
"It was a bad time in my life. I was trying to put muscle on." -Illinois Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen, whose story just keeps on getting more amazing, responds to claims that he "abused anabolic steroids, displayed fits of rage and forced himself sexually on his wife before their divorce." You may also enjoy this interview in which the reporter, after enumerating the allegations against Cohen, ends with a plaintive, "Dude."
44 arrests and a bizarre kidney trafficking scam notwithstanding, Illinois is unwilling to cede its corruption crown to New Jersey. "With 42 agents, the Windy City outpaces New York and Los Angeles and is second in the nation only to Washington, D.C., in the number of FBI agents investigating public corruption. As for Newark, N.J., it has one-third fewer corruption agents than Chicago, according to the FBI," proudly notes the Chicago Sun-Times. Plus, they've got that crazy ex-governor who is spending every second before they lock him away on the television and doing book signings. Seems like a decent point! Louisiana, you have anything to say here?
