Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Hey fact-checkers: Where is the mother who Pritzker said "shoplifted diapers for her baby, who is put in jail and kept there for six months?"

Illinois' governor, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, is feeling the heat, as he should, over the SAFE-T Act, which he signed into law over a year-and-a-half ago but doesn't take effect until January. The SAFE-T Act eliminates cash bail, including for crimes such as second degree murder, threatening a public official, arson, and aggravated DUI. Except in very narrow circumstances, such as being a flight risk, they'll walk free.

And you think crime is bad in Illinois now? Just wait.

Pritzker, who may be running for president in 2024, is up for reelection this year, he faces Republican state senator Darren Bailey. A loss to Bailey will very likely derail his presidential ambitions. 

So the Chicago billionaire may be panicking. A few days ago Pritzker, in addressing criticism of the SAFE-T Act, let loose this whopper. He says this law is about, "Making sure that we're also addressing the problem of a single mother who shoplifted diapers for her baby, who is put in jail and kept there for six months because she doesn't have a couple of hundred dollars to pay for bail." Yeah, Pritzker said it.

In a column posted last week, John Kass had this to say, "Diapers? Diapers, Gov. Commodius Maximus [Pritzker]? Jean Valjean was said to have stolen a loaf of bread to feed his family. But the French didn’t have welfare or other government assistance." 

He then mentions that Cook County's catch-and-release prosecutor, Kim Foxx, won't prosecute accused shoplifters if they steal items less than $1,000. The state threshold on felonious shoplifting is $300. Mom must have stolen some very expensive diapers.

Kass, a former Chicago Tribune columnist, added, "Reporters just went along with him as they usually do" in regards to the mysterious diaper theft mom. Meaning, they didn't question Pritzker on who this woman is. Nor has anyone, as far as I know, written a story on finding, or trying to find her. My search engine investigation turned up nothing. Does diaper-mom exist?

Where are the fact-checkers? As Joe Concha explained in The Hill a few days ago, they are generally very quiet about President Joe Biden's misstatements, exaggerations, and yes, lies. That was not the situation whe Donald Trump was president. Okay, fact checkers, I have a story tip for you.

Is Pritzker's story about the mother jailed for six months for stealing diapers true?

I'll submit the governor's claim for fact-checkers to review.

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