Afternoon Edition: June 26, 2020

Former Gangster Disciples “governor” James Yates, freed from prison in April under the First Step Act, hugs his grandchildren at his South Side home. “To sit in the yard and take in the fresh air, I don’t really know how to put words on it,” he said. | Provided

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

Happy Friday! This afternoon will be mostly cloudy, with some showers and thunderstorms, and a high near 88 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 71 degrees. This weekend is a similar story, with rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for both days. Saturday’s high will be around 85 degrees, while Sunday’s will be near 84.

Top story

Over 60% in Chicago seeking early prison release under Trump’s First Step Act go free

The American Civil Liberties Union and President Donald Trump don’t agree on a lot. But in 2018, Trump signed a law called the First Step Act that had the backing of a broad range of supporters including the ACLU, Republicans and Democrats, and Kanye West, who had lobbied the president during a White House visit.

The law gives prisoners convicted of federal crimes a chance to reduce their time behind bars, in part by letting elderly and sick inmates seek compassionate releases.

In Chicago, hundreds of prisoners, including some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, are using the law to try to get out of prison. And their odds of getting out are good, our examination of 200 of those cases found.

Judges here have approved more than 60% of the requests they’ve ruled on, court records show, often over the objections of prosecutors. So far, they have granted sentence reductions in 75 out of 200 cases. Forty-five requests were denied, and the rest are awaiting a ruling.

Five men serving life sentences have been freed, including James Yates, convicted in 1998 in a sensational drug case against the Gangster Disciples, a notorious Chicago street gang. Yates, 51, wasn’t expecting a break: “I was kind of skeptical,” said Yates, who benefited from a provision of the First Step Act that involves crack cocaine.

In 2010, Congress reduced the huge disparity in punishments between crack and powdered cocaine. In the 1980s and 1990s, African Americans had been hit the hardest by the harsher sentences for crack. The First Step Act allows people convicted of crack offenses before 2010 to ask for their prison terms to be recalculated to account for the sentencing disparity.

In April, over objections from prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo cut Yates’ life sentence down to time served.

“To sit in the yard and take in the fresh air, I don’t really know how to put words on it,” said Yates, now back home in Chicago.

Three of his co-defendants also won their freedom under the First Step Act. And Larry Hoover, co-founder and former chairman of the Gangster Disciples, has a hearing set for next month to evaluate whether he’ll get a break on his life sentence.

Yates said he avoided trouble in prison by “staying away from drugs and gambling and violating jailhouse rules, staying away from the drama.” He said he studied Arabic and taught inmates to use computer software, and is thinking about going back to school to finish a degree in electronics: “It’s a second chance.”

Read the full story from Frank Main and Jon Seidel.

More news you need

1. A crooked Chicago police officer was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison today after he lied to get bogus search warrants to help him and another cop steal drugs and cash. Federal prosecutors said Xavier Elizondo and fellow officer David Salgado wrought “institutional havoc” on Cook County’s justice system.
2. A former Chicago Public Schools principal has been charged with a felony in connection with allegations he threw a plastic water bottle at a school lunchroom worker, hitting her in the head and giving her a concussion. Kurt Jones, 46, the embattled ex-principal, resigned late last week.
3. After President Donald Trump compared life in Chicago to “living in hell,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot clapped back, quoting the president’s hotel’s website that features a glowing description of the city. “What’s that you say?“ poked Lightfoot in her tweet.
4. Chicago police sergeants, lieutenants and captains will soon be subject to misconduct investigations even if their accusers remain anonymous. CPD supervisors accused of misconduct will also no longer learn the identity of their accusers until the end of an investigation.
5. University of Chicago researchers will help test people in an upcoming government-funded study of an experimental vaccine for COVID-19. The vaccine research is being led locally by University of Illinois at Chicago, part of a nationwide 30,000-patient study.
6. There’s no Chicago Pride Parade due to the pandemic, so to commemorate Pride Month, we put together this list of key places and events in the city’s gay life and history. Take our virtual tour of 17 Chicago LGBTQ landmarks.

A bright one

How Chicago’s ‘Dread Head Cowboy’ became an agent of change

Across Chicago, people hear Woodlawn native Adam Hollingsworth approaching before they see him — or rather, they hear the clip-clop of his horse Prince’s hooves on the asphalt.

Thanks to his impromptu visits on horseback to neighborhoods all over the city, and the social media attention they generate, the 33-year-old former boxer is better known to many as the “Dread Head Cowboy.”

Hollingsworth, who bought his first horse in 2016 and now owns three, says he has always found it therapeutic to be around them. He wanted to spread that message to kids and adults in communities across Chicago, may of whom, he says, have never seen a horse in person before.

Adam Hollingsworth, 33, otherwise known as the “Dread Head Cowboy,” rides his horse Prince in the Loop.

But when he saddled up another one of his horses, Bella, on Saturday, May 30, it wasn’t for another simple meet-and-greet — it was to join a planned protest in the Loop over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. When the initially peaceful protest turned violent, Hollingsworth realized he could use his visibility to help: “I know for a fact I saved a lot of people from getting hurt that day because they were behind me following me everywhere I was going.”

That day, Hollingsworth says, something clicked. He knew he stood out amid the chaos in his cowboy hat, riding Bella through the Loop, and that his reputation as a community-builder lent credence to his peacekeeping efforts at a time when tensions were high.

Now when Hollingsworth passes cops on his horses, they tell him that they’re fans. People have told him that he’s making a difference — and he’s not done yet: “I feel like I have a lot of people looking up to me and watching,” he said. “I don’t want to let anybody down.”

Read Alison Martin’s full profile of the “Dread Head Cowboy.”

From the press box

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn is eager to finally get the baseball season underway. (Aren’t we all?)

Moving over to the gridiron, wide receivers coach Mike Furrey dished on who he thinks will be the Bears’ receiving corps’ most improved player this season, and his answer might surprise you. Hint: The man was a rookie last season who caught only six passes for 69 yards over five games.

And as a comedic bonus story to boost your mood this Friday: Chicken killers have a new enemy, and his name is Jay Cutler. No, seriously. Expect more developments on this one over the weekend as Cutler continues to hunt for the “chicken serial killer on the loose” at his Tennessee farm.

Your daily question ☕

How do you plan on taking advantage of Chicago’s move into Phase 4 of reopening this weekend?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: If the Cubs and/or White Sox get approval to let a limited number of fans attend games this year, are you interested in going? Here’s what some of you said…

“I’m 100 percent interested. I would still feel the need to wear a mask and limit interaction with other fans. Hand sanitizer stations and testing sights near/inside would definitely ease my worries” —Trevor Arbogast

“This will be the 1st time in over 20 years I have not been to Wrigley. I think I’ll have to pass. I’m in that danger age group. Can’t risk getting sick.” — Sharon Naftzger Woodring

“Yes I would. I miss baseball. The smell of the grass, grilled hot dogs, popcorn, the sound of the bat as it connects with the ball. I would feel normal again.” — Scott Robertson

“I can’t imagine taking a risk like that for a game. I understand wanting a distraction and a return to a sense of normalcy. But I also understand the dire consequences that could come from making that choice. I’ll pass.” — Eric Anderson

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