Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her challenger Bill Conway are at odds over the details surrounding a case that’s become the focal point of a campaign commercial he recently released that compares her office’s treatment of famous actor Jussie Smollett to his client who appears in the ad.
“I’m not famous and I didn’t get special treatment from Kim Foxx,” Hoffman Estates resident Candace Clark says in the ad. “I mean Jussie Smollet, she cared, but when it came to Candace Clark, Kim Foxx did not care at all.”
Foxx’s handling of the Smollett case sparked a national controversy after her office dropped all charges against the actor known for his role in the TV show “Empire.” As the election heats up, Foxx has tried to draw attention to her efforts to reform the cash bond system, exonerate wrongfully imprisoned residents and offer amnesty to residents who had marijuana-related charges, now that recreational use of the drug is legal.
But the focus for some has remained on Smollett and Foxx’s handling of his case. The issue resurfaced this week in Conway’s campaign ad, as well as the candidates’ joint appearance before the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, which operates separately from the newsroom.
Foxx and Conway appeared before the newspaper’s editorial board on Monday, along with former Chicago Ald. Bob Fioretti and former prosecutor Donna More. At one point in the meeting, Conway raised the argument that his client, Clark, wasn’t treated the same as Smollett. And Foxx pushed back.
“Mr. Conway is leaving out his client’s background, which would suggest why she was given the conditions she was given,” Foxx said. “His client’s case could have been resolved outside of the criminal justice system totally.”
Currently, Clark is Conway’s only legal client other than the work he does for his family, and he has not carried a full client load since 2012, he said.
Officials with Foxx’s campaign later clarified Foxx’s comments and explained that technically, both Smollett and Clark were offered a chance to have the charges against them dropped.
“Instead of presenting his ideas and vision for the office, Bill Conway has determined to make the Jussie Smollett case the focal point of his campaign,” a Foxx spokeswoman said in a prepared statement. “That’s what happens when you lack the experience and foresight to lead one of the top prosecutorial offices in the country.”
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Both Clark and Smollett were charged in cases related to filing false police reports.
Smollett in January 2019 allegedly staged a hate crime and was accused of hiring two men to pretend to assault him while using racist and homophobic slurs, and claiming they invoked President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. When Foxx’s office dropped the charges, it shocked even then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel and then-Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.
Clark was arrested in March 2019 and charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false report, the same as Smollett. She had no prior criminal background when she was arrested.
Smollett’s case was dismissed weeks after he was indicted when he accepted a deal in which he forfeited his $10,000 bond and agreed to two days of community service.
Prosecutors’ initial proposal to Clark, which predated Conway’s involvement in the case, would have required her to pay a $2,500 fine, attend regular court hearings, obtain a GED and show proof of employment or do community service if she wanted the charges dropped.
At the time that the deal was offered to Clark, Circuit Judge Marc Martin said she was being treated differently.
Clark refused that initial deal, both Conway and officials with the state’s attorney’s office said.
Clark then obtained Conway as her attorney pro bono. He negotiated the fine down to $1,200. But all the other details of her deal remained the same.
Unlike Smollett, Clark still has to check in with court officials regularly, as part of her plea terms. The charge against Clark will be dismissed after 12 months if she does not have any additional incidents.
“She never got the Jussie Smollett special, despite me begging for it,” Conway said.
Conway said he wanted Clark to have her charge dropped in exchange for community service, without the extra requirements.
“My client is still in this process now,” he said. “The fine is still onerous. She is an hourly wage worker. She has to work hard to pay this fine over time.
Twitter @lollybowean
