Kim Foxx’s vision: Automatically erase more serious convictions for weed dealing, expunge cocaine or heroin arrests
By
Tom Schuba and Matthew Hendrickson
Chicago Sun-Times
December 21, 2020
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx detailed a bold
vision for drug enforcement as she laid out a plan to automatically wipe
clean the records of convicted weed dealers and opened the door to
expunging offenses for heroin and cocaine possession.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, Foxx framed
cannabis legalization as a “test balloon” for reexamining the country’s
drug laws — and their toll on the communities that have suffered the
most.
“I think this is the gateway conversation to deeper
conversations around treating addiction as a public health issue and
looking at the drug economy that has flourished in these neighborhoods
while every other bit of economy has abandoned [them],” Foxx said.
High on her list is helping those caught up in the drug
war move on with their lives by automatically expunging criminal records
so those convicted don’t have to take any actions to get their records
wiped clean after they serve their sentences. Her office has already
automatically expunged about 2,200 low-level pot convictions for
possession of 30 grams or less, the amount of weed that’s now legal to
have.
But Foxx ultimately wants to use her office’s existing
infrastructure for identifying cases to similarly wipe out more serious
offenses for selling cannabis, which she acknowledged typically involves
more than 30 grams. Currently, those convicted of a crime dealing with
30 to 500 grams of pot must petition the court to have their record
expunged.
“We should also make it easier for those who had those
sales convictions for higher amounts to also be able to have their
convictions vacated automatically,” Foxx said.
“No, they didn’t have a license. And no, it wasn’t legal.
But it was the only economy that they had,” she said, noting that legal
pot firms are now “doing the exact same thing and making a ton of of money.”
The comments appear to be the first time Foxx has spoken
about automatically expunging records of those found guilty of more
serious drug offenses than low-level possession. Previously she said she thought those convictions should be reviewed on a “case-by-case basis.”
Sarah Sinovic, a spokeswoman for the state’s attorney,
clarified that Foxx doesn’t yet have any immediate plans to begin
automatically expunging those records.
“It’s a vision that she has,” Sinovic said.
For now, Foxx’s office is most focused on meeting the
deadlines for automatically expunging convictions that were put forth in
the state’s legalization law took effect earlier this year.
The first batch of records, which include convictions
from 2013 through this year, must be completed by Jan. 1. The next set
of 11,000 expected cases stretches from 2000 to 2012 and has to be
completed by the start of 2023, while earlier convictions must be
expunged over the following two years.
Foxx said she had hoped to move through the low-level
cases “more expeditiously” so her office could begin tackling the more
serious offenses. However, the COVID-19 outbreak ultimately “shut things
down” along with other complications.
Not just pot
Amid those hiccups, Foxx made it clear that her vision for reform doesn’t end with weed.
“What has been a long concern of mine … is other drugs
that are still illegal, that are still being prosecuted, in some of
these very neighborhoods that are being devastated by the war on drugs,”
Foxx said. “And marijuana was but one of the drugs. It wasn’t the
totality of the devastation.”
Using the West Side as an example, Foxx noted the crack
cocaine epidemic that started in the 1980s has now given way to the
deadly opioid crisis. Through those decades of destruction, Foxx
complained the area’s “economic infrastructure” still hasn’t been
rebuilt.
Now, Foxx is looking to address the systemic issues that
underlie those scourges. Currently, possession of 15 grams or less of
heroin or cocaine can result in a felony conviction that typically can’t
be expunged from criminal records.
Asked whether she would advocate for expunging
convictions for possession of those harder drugs, Foxx answered “yes” —
as long as it’s part of a larger, progressive approach to handling
addiction.
“If we recognize substance abuse disorder as a health
condition, then we must modify our justice system to treat it as such,”
Foxx said. “Criminalizing health is not in the interest of public
safety.”
Public support grows
Foxx’s push is in line with national trends, experts
said, but even they are surprised at how far society has come in pushing
back on the drug war.
“It is clear that public support for harsh drug sentences
is fading, and this is particularly true for minor possession and use
cases,” said Ralph Weisheit, a professor of criminal justice at Illinois
State University. “Decriminalizing minor possession of hard drugs, as
has happened in Oregon, is something I would not have predicted even
five years ago.”
Even more surprising is that someone in Foxx’s position is leading the charge, he said.
“That prosecutors would express any support for these
changes is not something I would have expected. Historically,
prosecutors have not led the charge for decriminalization,” he said.
Even some who have been opposed to legalization in the past are OK with the push for expungement — even for low-level dealers.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Wietzel, an executive board
member of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, former
president of the West Suburban Chiefs of Police Association and a member
of the state’s Impaired Driving Task Force, spoke in opposition to
legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana.
Now he sees expungement for possession of less than 30
grams as something he supports. And he would accept that for drug
dealers — with caveats.
“If it’s a small amount they are convicted of selling,
that’s more difficult. But if they’re not selling to juveniles, at
public parks ... I would be OK with that,” he said.
But automatically expunging for convictions involving the
larger amounts Foxx advocates, he says, is too much: “I think that
large manufacturing and delivery cases, that’s a different story.
