CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A new report published by the political science department at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) said — for the fourth year in a row — Chicago is America’s most corrupt city, and Illinois is the third-most corrupt state.
The UIC report was based on Justice Department statistics from 2021, when there were 32 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois, which includes all of Chicago. Many of the corruption cases focus on former House speaker Michael Madigan and red light camera bribes in the suburbs.
Professor Marco Rosaire Rossi worked on the report and told WBBM corrupt politicians often stay in power by taking care of their own.
“They have a record of taking very good care of people in their district or in their ward, where they finagle things to make sure that resources are going to their areas,” Rossi said. “What is problematic about them, though, is that it often adds to a great system of inequality.”
By the time Madigan ended his tenure as the House speaker, he was the longest serving leader of any state or federal legislative body in the history of the United States. He will go on trial in the spring of 2024 over racketeering charges and accusations that he led a criminal enterprise designed to enhance his political power and generate income for his allies and associates. He has pleaded not guilty.
Madigan’s own longtime chief of staff was among four people who were convicted in a bribery conspiracy case, which revolved around ComEd giving do-nothing jobs to Madigan associates. In return, the former speaker has been accused of making decisions to ComEd’s benefit. Rossi said it’s an example of how public corruption can impact millions of people.
“If the State ends up not trying to pass a certain legislation … and that legislation was influenced by utility companies, well that means that that’s good, hard money taken [from] millions of people throughout the state of Illinois,” he said.
Rossi said it's up to Chicago voters and lawmakers to change the old Chicago way, and he added it will first require “breaking through that culture of corruption.”
Voters aren’t the only ones victimized by a corrupt system, he said. Eventually, democracy itself is threatened.
“People don’t believe that it’s worth it to engage in a political system, and then you can allow very nefarious forces to get a hold of power centers of society,” he said.
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