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Illinois
Murder in Chicago: Politicians Tough on Guns, Weak on Criminal Prosecution
Abstract
Chicago leads the nation in homicides. In 2012, more people were killed in Chicago than American troops killed in Afghanistan. Reportedly, there are over 100,000 gang members in Chicago, far outnumbering Chicago’s 200 police gang unit. Chicago’s high homicide rate led to strict gun control legislation which has been ongoing since the late 1960’s. In 2008, and again in 2014, both the U.S. Supreme Court and separately a lower court ruled that Chicago’s gun bans are unconstitutional. The gun control measures have not been shown to reduce homicides, but rather more funding for policing have shown to reduce homicides in Chicago. Once police have done their job in taking violent offenders off the street, Chicago politicians and the local criminal justice system seem to place favor toward the criminals. There appears to be a serious lack of prosecution in Chicago’s Criminal Justice System. With sub-par prosecution rates, criminals have little incentive to stop committing crimes including homicide. Read More…