IF THIS IS SUCCESS, I’D HATE TO SEE WHAT FAILURE LOOKS LIKE: Chicago has been releasing accused murderers pretrial. Defending this policy in the wake of recent carnage on Chicago’s streets, the city’s chief judge notes that “out of 181 defendants charged with murder and released pretrial, only seven of them missed at least one court appearance, only 11 were charged with a new offense before trial, and of those 11, only two were charged with violent offenses.” Most criminal acts are never reported to police. Most that are reported to police never lead to criminal charges. So if 11 suspects were *charged* with a criminal offense after release, one can presume that the actual number of offenders was more like in the 50 to 100 range, or somewhere around one-third and one-half of those released. This is what passes for success in Chicago.