End of an era: 1-on-1 with Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced Friday, Jan. 5 that he will not seek reelection in 2024 after nearly 30 years of state service.

For the last 18 years, there has been one man leading the district attorney’s office in Milwaukee County, but come this time next year, that will change. Stephanie Grady goes one-on-one with D.A. John Chisholm about why he is deciding to hang up his prosecutor hat for good.

Stephanie Grady: It has been a couple of years since you and I last sat down and talked like this. Things have changed a bit, haven't they?

John Chisholm: Yeah, they really have. I just feel that this is a good opportunity for a new chapter in this office and for me personally.

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Grady: Do you think this came as a surprise to a lot of people?

Chisholm: I don't I not the people within the system itself.

Grady: When did you know in your heart that you were done?

Chisholm: Um, over the holidays. I really had to, um, come, come to the decision of whether I had another what would be another five years in me. Because my personal approach to things is if you run for something, you're in it for the long haul. I had to talk to my wife. She’s been an incredible partner in this entire journey. And, um, it's required a significant amount of sacrifice on her part as well. And,we just both concluded this was a good time in my life and her life for us to look at different options.

Grady: Why now?

Chisholm: More than anything else, is my sense that the office is in a really stable place right now. And I say that we've just come out of a very tumultuous time and a very challenging time. But a couple things happened in this last year. Not the least significant was the budget that came out that finally compensates our assistant DAs at an adequate level. And I think that we're finally coming out of the pandemic backlog and the, um, difficulties that we've experienced for the last three years. I think that's starting to get back under control.

Grady: Looking back on your time as district attorney, what are you most proud of?

Chisholm: I'm proud of the people that that I've been able to, um, either work with, um, work for, um, but more importantly, the people that I've been able to bring into the profession.

Grady: Is there one case that maybe still keeps you up at night, that maybe you wish would have played out differently over your time?

Chisholm: Well, you know, there's so many, I think, you know, obviously the ones you think about are the ones that you lose. Just to be blunt, you never want to lose a case where you're convinced that the person is responsible for a really, uh, horrific crime. There isn't any one in particular. And overwhelmingly, we find accountability for the people that we charge.

Grady: When articles are written about you. A lot of times they say he's the progressive district attorney. How does that make you feel?

Chisholm: Yeah, that's an interesting, interesting point because, I made all of these substantive changes long before the word progressive Da was ever even used by anybody. So I started the process of reforming our system immediately upon election. So starting in 2007, if you remember, I invited the Vera Institute of Justice, for example, to come in and examine our charging decisions to determine whether there was any racial disparity in any of our charging decisions. And, um, that was really the start of using sort of a data informed approach to how we did our work. I didn't call it progressive at the time. I called it doing what I told the community I would do so that they would have faith that the the DA's office was making decisions based on, um, what people had done, not on the color of their skin.

Grady: What do you think is the biggest issue that's facing Milwaukee County right now when you leave this tenure? What are you most concerned about?

Chisholm: The biggest concern I have is that is that even prior to the disruptions associated with the pandemic, um, you have a community that's been dealing with a lot of of historical and immediate trauma. In other words, it's the youth of this, this community. Um. I'm concerned that a lot of them have just been lost to the to the education system and are just off the radar. They're not getting the kind of guidance and intervention that will keep them off the streets and therefore keep them out of the criminal justice system.

Grady: In your statement that you released on Friday, you said it's time for me to pursue new endeavors. What new endeavors?

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Chisholm: I don't know, I've got I've got some time to think about that. Obviously I've got academic interest,you know, some of the, some of the great organizations I've worked with in the nonprofit sector. I've found fascinating, and I'm not even precluding that. I would do some kind of government related work as well. It just wouldn't be as a prosecutor.

Grady: So you’re not riding off into the sunset for retirement and playing golf for the rest of your days.

Chisholm:, no no no no no. I'm. No, I feel like I've got a lot of energy and a lot to offer still, but, what that's going to be, I don't know yet.

Grady: Is your wife happy?

Chisholm: I think she will be.

Grady: We shall see. Only time will tell.

Chisholm: Now, she's been great. She's been, uh, a tremendous asset to me and to this community and the support that she's provided.

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