CHICAGO — Stunning testimony from former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is raising serious new questions about the hyper-politicized criminal justice culture that has dominated Illinois in recent years, the extreme agendas that created it, and the massive cost property taxpayers are now forced to pay for it.

According to sworn deposition testimony first reported by CWB Chicago, Foxx admitted she personally believed two men whose convictions were overturned and whose innocence petitions were ultimately no longer opposed by her office were actually guilty of what she described as a “heinous act of murder.” Foxx also acknowledged that public statements she made declaring another convicted murderer “wrongfully convicted” were not based on any factual finding or investigation, but rather on an emotional, “off-the-cuff” reaction during a speech.

“This is exactly what happens when politics and ideology override common sense in the criminal justice system,” said Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy. “Illinoisans are left footing massive lawsuit settlements while violent criminals may walk free, all under the failed ‘Illinois Blueprint’ that has made our communities less safe and government less accountable.”

Tracy’s opponent, Juliana Stratton has long been politically aligned with Foxx and the extreme criminal justice movement that reshaped Chicago and Illinois over the past decade. Stratton endorsed Foxx’s campaign for Cook County State’s Attorney in 2016, and both have remained closely associated with the same political network tied to Toni Preckwinkle and Brandon Johnson.

“Kim Foxx didn’t operate in a vacuum,” Tracy said. “She was supported and elevated by the same political machine and extreme activist movement that has backed Juliana Stratton. This is the governing philosophy behind Stratton’s so-called ‘Illinois Blueprint.’”

 According to public reporting and analysis from former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, Chicago taxpayers have now paid nearly $1 billion in police misconduct settlements and verdicts over time, fueling growing concerns about what Vallas has called a “criminal industrial complex” involving politically connected plaintiff attorneys, activists, and elected officials.

“Juliana Stratton wants to take this ‘Illinois Blueprint’ to Washington. But Illinois families have already seen what happens when extreme politics replace common sense. We get more chaos, less accountability, more expensive government and communities that feel increasingly unsafe.

“I am running because Illinois needs leaders who will stand with victims, support law enforcement, protect due process, and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly, not career politicians who promote criminal justice  ideological experiments and then stick property taxpayers with the bill.”

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