Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx spoke with ND Law students about criminal justice reform and what it means to be a progressive prosecutor on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023.
Foxx began her talk by explaining how her upbringing in Cabrini-Green, a former public housing project in Chicago, Illinois, shaped the way she views the law.
“To be progressive is to not lose sight of all of the things that got me here, my personal story, and the journey I made to get to the place that I am,” said Foxx.
After her address, State’s Attorney Foxx sat down for a fireside chat with ND Law’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Max Gaston. Among the topics discussed were systemic inequity in the criminal legal system, the expansion of Conviction Integrity Units in Cook County, the Office’s work as a national leader in overturning wrongful convictions, and the recent passage of the SAFE-T Act, a statewide criminal reform law which has made Illinois the first state to fully abolish cash bail.
“We are living in a time, if I’m being quite honest, in which conversations around race and justice are being suppressed across the country … and all of that permeates the work that we do in our criminal justice system,” said Foxx.
The event was sponsored by ND Law’s American Constitution Society, and co-sponsored by the Law School’s First Generation Professionals, National Lawyers Guild, and Future Prosecuting Attorneys Council student organizations.
Watch the event here: