Illinois’ Special Prosecutors Have Strong Political Ties and Little Oversight

Illinois' special prosecutors have strong political ties and little oversight

On a cool September night in 2014, 18-year-old Pietro Mautino sped down a rural county road about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, his friend at the wheel of his bronze Kia sedan. The headlights were off.Around 1:35 a.m., police pulled them over. The car reeked of cannabis, police reported.An officer watched Mautino toss a plastic pill bottle into the back seat. Searching the car and Mautino’s black Prada bag, he inventoried a hydrocodone pill, 1…

Illinois’ special prosecutors have strong political ties and little oversight

On a cool September night in 2014, 18-year-old Pietro Mautino sped down a rural county road about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, his friend at the wheel of his bronze Kia sedan. The headlights were off. Around 1:35 a.m., police pulled them over. The car reeked of cannabis, police reported. An officer watched Mautino toss a plastic pill bottle into the back seat. Searching the car and Mautino’s black Prada bag, he inventoried a hydrocodone pill,…

Illinois' special prosecutors have strong political ties and little oversight | Illinois State Bar Association

Illinois' special prosecutors have strong political ties and little oversightThe agency housing the elite Special Prosecution Unit is deeply entangled in Illinois politics and got a legislative ally to write it out of the state’s public records law. Source: Chicago Sun

Special prosecutors have strong political ties and practically no public oversight

On a cool September night in 2014, 18-year-old Pietro Mautino sped down a rural county road about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, his friend at the wheel of his bronze Kia sedan. The headlights were off. Around 1:35 a.m., police pulled them over. The car reeked of cannabis, police reported. An officer watched Mautino toss a plastic pill bottle into the back seat. Searching the car and Mautino’s black Prada bag, he inventoried a hydrocodone pill,…