Chicago Tribune Opinion newsletter
Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team
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Chicago Tribune Opinion

Monday, September 15, 2025

Good morning.

Many Chicagoans are familiar with unhoused persons raising tents and taking over sections of public parks. We've heard a lot about this problem on the Northwest Side and on Sunday the editorial board argued that, while this is a vexing problem needing equal measures of compassion and determination, no-one is well served by encampments on baseball diamonds.

Local attorney George Galland argues today in our pages that no-one is being well served by the Supreme Court, either. He lays out his critique in uncompromising fashion.

Longtime Cook County chief judge was ousted from his long-held position by his peers. So it's a new day at the Cook County Circuit Court: the much younger Charles Beach is taking over from the liberal stalwart Evans. The editorial board looks at what that could mean.

America is still reeling from the shooting of Charlie Kirk on September 10, as reflected in several of the offerings and letters we have to share with you.

Clarence Page wrote about the assassination in the context of his long history covering political violence on Sunday. Regular contributor Jonathan Zimmerman tried to find some solutions for the toxic partisanship visible on social media. Today, the editorial board worries about the impact of Kirk's death on the safety of other public officials and, in a Sunday Opinion piece that moved me greatly, the great local writer Kerry Lester Kasper explored the impact of last week's events on ordinary family dinner tables, including her own.

She brings up a point that few have made: children have been watching and listening to these conversations.

Have a great start to your week

— Chris Jones, editorial page editor

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Editorial: Tent cities don’t belong in Chicago’s parks

Safe parks and humane treatment of the unhoused are not mutually exclusive. Chicago owes its residents both.

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George F. Galland Jr.: Why does the Supreme Court keep backing Donald Trump?

I believe four of the Supreme Court justices are deeply influenced by resentment, if not hatred, of the Democrats.

Read more →

Editorial: Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans is shown the door by his fellow judges

Charles Beach, 55, will Cook County’s first new chief judge in 24 years. There’s no shortage of challenges.

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Clarence Page: Is another era of political violence upon us?

I remember the sort of tit-for-tat violence that plagued this country in the 1960s — and I dread its possible return.

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Editorial: Many public officials feel unsafe right now

Sometimes the best take is no take at all.

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Jonathan Zimmerman: To stop political violence, stop hating on others

Americans denounce violent rhetoric by others, even as we engage in it ourselves.

Read more →

Kerry Lester Kasper: School shootings have broken the silence at our family dinner table.