By Steve Rhodes
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing an increase city fines for gun offenses in and around schools and in ‘safe passage zones’ in neighborhoods near schools,” the Tribune reports.
“The ordinance, which will be introduced today to the City Council, would raise penalties for certain gun offenses near schools to $1,000 to $5,000 and 30 days in jail for a first offense, $5,000 to $15,000 and 90 days to six months in jail for a second offense, and $10,000 to $20,000 and at least six months in jail for a third offense.”
Why not just cover the whole city with these penalties? And raise them all by $10,000? And even longer jail time? In other words, why not max out?
Perhaps because then the mayor couldn’t propose new tough gun laws every year.
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“There already are fines and other penalties on the books for these crimes, according to Ald. Walter Burnett Jr., 27th, one of the sponsors of the measure, but he did not have specifics on what the current statute reads.”
The sponsoring alderman doesn’t even now what the current statute calls for; he just knows what Rahm called him for.
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“Spokesmen for the Chicago Police Department and the Emanuel administration did not immediately respond to requests for information about how often current city school gun laws are enforced.”
Or, to put it another way, neither the mayor’s office nor the police department would answer questions about how and why the proposed ordinance would be any more effective than the current ordinance.
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“Burnett said he thinks gang members and other criminals will consider tougher fines when they think about committing gun crimes around schools.”
Right. Because “gang members and other criminals” (memo to Burnett and the Tribune: It’s not a crime to be in a gang) typically go through a reasoned cost-benefit analysis before firing a weapon. And god knows gangs are short of cash these days.
Rahm’s Excuses
Too busy meeting with rich white guys.
Also:
Mayor blames Legislature’s inaction on pensions for school budget cuts http://t.co/a7V4iXUoLR Because Chicago systems were ever included???
— dri (@DriXander) June 25, 2013
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And if Rahm was counting on the legislature passing a pension reform bill without a backup plan he might as well have been wishing on unicorns willing to teach for free to take over the CTU and solve the CPS’s budget problems.
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Rahm Emanuel: The Buck Stops There.
History’s Judgement
“On a warm, sunny Tuesday afternoon last week, students attended one of the final events held at Horatio May Community Elementary Academy before the school closed for the summer – and for good,” AustinTalks reports.
“To commemorate their time at the school – one of four in Austin that CPS is shutting this month – students, staff and faculty collected items to bury inside a time capsule beside the school’s playground.”
Among the rumored items:
* An Econ 101 book signed by Henry Bienen.
* Calendars showing where everyone’s been addressed to Barbara Byrd-Bennett.
* A map of Mahalia Hines’s exit route.
* A bag of peanuts signed by David Vitale.
* Andrea Zopp’s guide to a spa weekend.
* A guide to Chicago’s charter schools signed by Jesse Ruiz.
* A rubber stamp donated by Carlos Azcoitia.
Not Charter Enough
“Chicago Talent Development, a charter based on an education model developed at Johns Hopkins University, will shut down next year because of budget problems,” Catalyst reports.
“The school never received some of the hefty sums provided to other start-ups by pro-charter foundations because it is unionized.”
Analog Kids
Here’s an example of a story that really only needs a date, place and time. The rest is malarkey.
Dear Chicago: Please ID This Bromonster
Let us shame him mercilessly.
NSA: Responding To This FOIA Would Help Our Adversaries
“Neither a confirmation nor a denial that the agency has my metadata.”
Fantasy Fix: Movers And Shakers
Cubs, Sox.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Moving, shaking.
Posted on June 26, 2013