A new federal court case — decided less than two weeks ago — shows that public officials who dole out jobs based on political clout are not guilty of a crime unless they also take bribes or kickbacks, lawyers for former top aides to Mayor Daley argued before an appeals court Tuesday.
Lawyers for former Daley patronage chief Robert Sorich seized on the recent case out of Wisconsin as they fought to overturn their clients’ convictions last year for rigging hiring and promotions at City Hall.
In exchange for their alleged roles in the scheme, Sorich and others may have enjoyed promotions, pay raises or added job security, said John Cline, Sorich’s attorney.
But the new case “says pretty categorically that that type of gain doesn’t count,” said Cline, arguing to a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
As for under-the-table payoffs, Cline said, “that didn’t happen here. There was no evidence of that.”
Sorich was convicted in July and sentenced to 3 years and 10 months in prison for rigging hiring and promotions at City Hall to reward members of political armies that did campaign work.
Sorich aide Timothy McCarthy and Patrick Slattery, former director of staff services in the Department of Streets and Sanitation, also were found guilty and sentenced to prison. Sorich and Slattery are free while their appeals are pending. McCarthy has reported to prison.
Cline and attorneys for Slattery and McCarthy tried Tuesday to make the most of the Wisconsin case, which also was decided by the appellate court based in Chicago.
