Trouble in Daleytown

In all his 20 years as boss of Chicago's Democratic machine, Mayor Richard Daley has seldom been so troubled. His most illustrious protege, former Governor and now Federal Judge Otto Kerner, has been convicted of bribery, conspiracy, income tax evasion, mail fraud and perjury (TIME, March 5). Possibly even more damaging to the machine, one of Daley's oldest political associates, Edward Barrett, was recently convicted of bribery, mail fraud and tax evasion. Since 1955 Barrett had been Cook County clerk, an influential office that carries rich patronage powers. The clerk's office does everything from dispensing birth certificates to buying and operating voting machines--always an interesting function in Cook County.

The man most responsible for indicting both Kerner and Barrett, and shaking the once stubbornly secure Democratic domain, is James ("Big Jim") Thompson, 36. A coolly sagacious but easygoing 6-ft. 6-in. bachelor, he calls himself a "middle-of-the-road" Republican. In the 17 months that he has been U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Thompson has prosecuted scores of mostly Democratic politicians and city employees on a variety of federal charges. Among those indicted by Thompson and his aides are: 81 precinct workers, charged with vote fraud; eleven employees in the Democratic-controlled county assessor's office, charged with offenses that include bribery, tax evasion and mail fraud; and 40 Chicago policemen, charged with extortion of "protection" money from various tavern owners and storekeepers.

A federal grand jury is looking into evidence of even more corruption. Thompson says that the possibly illegal dealings involve race-track stockholders and some Illinois legislators, both Democrats and Republicans. He vows that other criminal indictments will be forthcoming. As he recently promised Attorney General Richard Kleindienst: "I'm going to kick ass until I get rid of the crooks."

Thompson, a Chicago native, became fascinated with criminal law while studying at Northwestern University. He taught the subject there for five years and co-authored two books. At the request of Senator Charles Percy, President Nixon appointed Thompson to the U.S. Attorney post.

Before getting the job, Thompson was acting U.S. Attorney and then first assistant to William Bauer, who quit to become a federal judge. Because they were the first Republicans in nine years to hold the top federal prosecution post in Northern Illinois, Bauer and Thompson had considerable incentive to look into the shenanigans of local Democratic administrations. They also got plenty of help from the Justice Department, which raised their budget, enabling the attorney's office to increase the staff of lawyers from 23 to 73. Many of the scrappy young lawyers whom Thompson recruited were his former Northwestern students, and they were hired on the basis of merit, not because of their political affiliations.

Unlike many Democratic predecessors, Thompson went far beyond the routine prosecution of kidnaping, mail fraud, income tax evasion and draft dodging. He put together a special division with units to handle matters as diverse as official corruption and civil rights violations. Last year the civil rights staff checked out more than 250 complaints of police brutality, mainly in black neighborhoods. Investigations prompted by Thompson's office led to the first guilty verdict ever handed down in the Northern District against a Chicago policeman on charges of a civil rights violation. Thompson's office recently filed suit charging that the Chicago Fire Department discriminates against blacks and Spanish-speaking people. The suit and the conviction of the policeman did much to enhance the U.S. Attorney's credibility in the city's minority communities.

To speed the prosecution of consumer fraud, Thompson has formed a special "Public Protection" unit. "The goal," he says, "is to establish a federal presence in the consumer-fraud field so that the schlock merchant knows that he's got another pair of eyes looking over his shoulder." He says that the unit will keep a close watch on the ghettos, "where people get ripped off the most."

To get political corruption indictments, Thompson has made shrewd use of the immunity statutes. Witnesses, who would otherwise have faced prosecution, testified freely. The most damaging testimony against County Clerk Barrett came from a Philadelphia businessman who was given immunity and admitted that he had bribed Barrett.

Partly as a result of the corruption indictments, Mayor Daley has been increasingly criticized by rank-and-file Democrats. Several weeks ago, he called in heads of city departments and issued an ultimatum: either be loyal to Daley or be forced out. Some Democratic chieftains, noting that Thompson is increasingly talked about as a candidate for the mayor's job when Daley steps down in 1975, charge that his crackdown on corruption is politically motivated. The attorney convincingly denies the accusation. "I can't go out and hire Republicans to pose as defendants simply because I'm criticized," he says. "How in the world are you going to find Republican corruption in a city that has been under one-party rule for 50 years?"

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