State's Attorney Candidate Pushes Idea Of Dedicated Gun Court
CHICAGO (CBS) -- One of the two challengers running against Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez next year has said she wants to do better to crack down on gun violence, but she can't agree with the cornerstone of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's wish list for new state gun laws.
Donna More has been a federal prosecutor and an assistant state's attorney, and said she's running partly because she feels Alvarez has not made reducing violence a high enough priority.
Currently working as a corporate attorney, More said she doesn't support Emanuel's proposals for mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes.
"I am an advocate for something that I would like to see put in place, which is a citywide preliminary hearing gun court," she said. "By doing that, what you are able to do is you have a judge, you have prosecutors who begin to know and identify with the people coming through that courtroom."
She said a dedicated gun court would allow courts to aggressively handle the most violent suspects, and not lesser offenders.
"You can look at your case. You can say this case is going to go straight to indictment, this one we're going to put a preliminary hearing on. You get prompt determinations, and you start to see who are the career offenders that are coming in who are possessing and selling illegal guns, and who's the person that may have just made a mistake," More said.
She and Kimberly Foxx – a former chief of staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and a former assistant state's attorney – are challenging Alvarez in next year's election, saying she has misplaced priorities.
More is the guest on this week's edition of "At Issue," airing Sunday at 9:30 p.m. on WBBM Newsradio 780 & 105.9FM.