Give us the ears to hear corruption, prosecutors say
Cook County and DuPage prosecutors made their case Thursday for why they should have the power to record political corruption suspects, but at least one legal expert fears the potential for abuse of such a power.
The presentations, by DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett and a representative of Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, were made Thursday before the Illinois Reform Commission.
The proposal the commission has is to give Illinois state's attorneys the same power federal investigators have: the authority to secretly record conversations, without a judge's approval, when one of the parties to the conversation consents and prosecutors have a reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed.
It was just such a power that enabled prosecutors to "wire up" Edward Hospital CEO Pamela Davis when she came to the FBI with a story of Illinois political cronies extorting her organization for money in exchange for approving a hospital expansion, said Patrick Collins, the chair of the reform commission and the former federal prosecutor who helped put George Ryan in prison.
Davis' recordings, in turn, gave federal prosecutors enough evidence to present to a judge, who gave them permission to tap Illinois power broker Stuart Levine's phone line. That led to a "treasure trove" of information implicating political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, Illinois power broker William Cellini and, ultimately, Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Rezko has been convicted of corruption charges, while Cellini and Blagojevich have been indicted and their cases are pending.
"If she went to the state's attorney's office, they could not have put a wire on her or acted as quickly as they did," noted Collins, a Lisle native.
But entrusting that power to the FBI and U.S. Attorney is far different than entrusting it to 102 separate Illinois state's attorney offices and local police, said Richard Kling, a clinical professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and a practicing defense attorney.
"You don't see FBI agents who are indicted for committing armed robberies and cooperating with drug dealers," said Kling, who noted there have been several such cases against Chicago police in recent years.
"I don't want to paint the (picture) that all cops are dirty," he said, or that the majority of police and state's attorneys can't be trusted. But "all you need is that one dirty cop" or informant, Kling said.
He is less apprehensive about the commission's other proposal - to allow non-consensual wiretaps of political corruption suspects with a judge's consent, because it involves a judge in the process.
Jack Blakey, the chief of special prosecutions for Alvarez, thinks the criticism is overblown, noting that many other states successfully use the crime-fighting tool without abuse. "This is not a new toy to give to a dangerous child," Blakey told the commission.