Free Republic

Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been moved from a federal prison in North Carolina to a minimum-security prison camp in Montgomery, Ala., after clashing with prison officials and being placed in solitary confinement, a source told the Chicago Sun-Times. The 49-year-old former Chicago congressman had been advising other inmates in North Carolina about their rights in prison, according to the source, who said a guard took exception to that. As a result, the longtime South Side politician was placed in solitary confinement for four or five days more than a month ago, the source said. It took about...

WASHINGTON — The felony cases of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, have been assigned to a new judge — named Jackson. Court papers filed Tuesday moved the cases to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, but did not explain why the judge who accepted the Jacksons' guilty pleas, Robert Wilkins, would not be the one to sentence them this summer. Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree Jr., who recently joined Jesse Jackson Jr.'s legal team, told the Tribune that Wilkins is a former law student whom he knows well, and that Wilkins may...

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was charged in federal court Friday with conspiring to use campaign funds for personal use -- in an alleged $750,000 spending spree that included purchases of a gold-plated Rolex and pricey children's furniture. It had been expected that a plea agreement would be entered into court Friday, but that agreement is apparently still pending. Instead, federal prosecutors charged Jackson Friday with conspiracy. Prosecutors separately charged his wife Sandi with filing false federal tax returns, but according to her attorney she has reached a plea agreement. In a statement, the former Illinois Democratic congressman said he...

**SNIP** One in the pack running for Jackson’s vacated house seat is one who’s been there before, former congressman Mel Reynolds. “At a time when we are living in the killing fields of Chicago, our federal government seems obsessed with the Jackson,” said Reynolds. Reynolds points to stories that include Jackson’s wife Sandi who’s also resigned her elective seat as alderman. “Do they really now want to put both parents of small children in jail or is their strategy to get Sandi Jackson to flip on her husband so they can put even more pressure on that family?” said Reynolds.

Although Mayor Rahm Emanuel has promised that his first aldermanic appointment would be based on a transparent community process, Jackson all but declared her chief of staff, Keiana Barrett, as her successor.

Ald. Sandi Jackson has resigned from the Chicago City Council. The 7th Ward alderman submitted her resignation letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel today. It is effective Tuesday. "After much consideration and while dealing with very painful family health matters, I have met with my family and determined that the constituents of the 7th Ward, as well as you Mr. Mayor, and my colleagues in the City Council deserve a partner who can commit all of their energies to the business of the people. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I tender my resignation as Alderman of 7th Ward,...

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.’s wife Sandi, a Chicago alderman, was called a traitor to the community by local grassroots activist Mack Glover. Glover's accusation came during a December meeting about the housing and foreclosure problems in the black communities of Chicago’s south and west sides. His comments were directed at Jackson’s facilitation of the largest “planned urban development” (PUD) in the country. Glover accused Sandi Jackson of being a sellout for helping the project move forward and thereby giving a “white developer $100 million” to build a project in the black community, where Glover and other grassroots activists at the...

It looks like former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.(D-Ill.), who resigned Wednesday, is trying to take any potential heat off of his wife, Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th)—who is also his campaign manager.I’m told that Sandi Jackson has hired her own legal representation as her husband’s lawyers try to work out a deal in the ongoing federal probe of his campaign finances.........According to campaign finance disclosures, Sandi Jackson has been drawing $5,000-a-month payments from her husband’s main campaign fund through her firm, J. Donnatella and Associates. Her company has been on the Jackson campaign payroll for years, and it is located, according...

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is suffering from debilitating depression and even collapsed at his home in Washington two months ago, his wife said in an interview published Saturday that revealed new details about his secretive leave of absence. Sandi Jackson, who is a Chicago City Council member, told the Chicago Sun-Times that contrary to rumors, her husband did not try to kill himself and was not being treated for alcohol or drug addiction. "No, no, none of that is true," she said. The Chicago Democrat and son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson has been off the job...

CHICAGO – Shortly after his 2002 election, Gov. Rod Blagojevich told Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. he didn't appoint the congressman's wife as lottery director because he had refused him a $25,000 campaign donation, a person familiar with the conversation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Blagojevich went out of his way to say, 'You know I was considering your wife for the lottery job and the $25,000 you didn't give me? That's why she's not getting the job,'" the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing federal investigation. Jackson's name has played prominently ever since Blagojevich...