Posted on September 30, 2017 in Criminal Defense

Being arrested and charged with a crime will have major, long-lasting effects on anyone’s life. When someone enters the criminal justice system, their criminal record can follow them for the rest of their life. In Illinois, nearly 50 percent of ex-offenders end up back in prison within three years due to their inability to find work.

After someone has been convicted of criminal charges and served their sentence, they may be able to have their criminal record sealed, which will improve their ability to find jobs, education, and housing. Unfortunately, the process of sealing these records is often difficult, but the state of Illinois is working to implement criminal justice reforms to address this issue.

New Illinois Criminal Justice Laws

In order to help ex-offenders return to work and avoid future prison sentences, Governor Bruce Rauner recently signed several new laws intended to help provide a second chance to these offenders. These laws include:

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 Posted on August 15, 2017 in Criminal Defense

On August 11, 2017, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed a new law eliminating the statute of limitations for felony sexual assault and sexual abuse crime against children. This law went into effect immediately, and officials praised the law, stating that will make it easier to prosecute these crimes.

Changes under the New Law

Prior to the passage of this law, Illinois statutes required sexual offenses against children to be reported and prosecuted within 20 years of the child’s 18th birthday. The new law eliminates that statute of limitations altogether, and it applies to any future crimes or existing crimes for which the statute of limitations had not yet expired. Following this change, 37 states and the federal government have removed the statute of limitations for some or all sex crimes against children.

This law helps ensure that victims of these crimes will be able to speak up and seek justice when they are ready to do so, even if that is years or decades after the abuse occurred. “Sex crimes against children are a horribly tragic violation of trust that can take a lifetime to recover from,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. “This new law will ensure that survivors are provided with the time they need to heal and seek justice.”

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 Posted on August 10, 2017 in Drugs and Narcotics

The abuse of heroin and opioids has become a major health crisis in the Chicago area; more than 1,000 people died of drug overdoses in Cook County in 2016, which was a significant increase over the 693 drug overdose deaths in 2015. Law enforcement officials are working to combat this epidemic, and some advocates have encouraged them to charge drug dealers with drug-induced homicide in addition to standard drug charges.

Drug-Induced Homicide in Illinois

In Illinois, a person can be charged with drug-induced homicide if they provided illegal drugs to someone and the use of those drugs resulted in that person’s death. Drug-induced homicide is a Class X felony, and it is punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison.

While Chicago has seen increasing numbers of deaths from drug overdoses, charges of drug-induced homicide are still relatively rare in Cook County. However, the counties surrounding the Chicago area have seen a rise in these types of cases. Between 2013 and 2016, there were 17 cases in Lake County, 15 cases in Will County, 14 cases in DuPage County, eight cases in McHenry County, and five cases in Kane County. During this period, only five drug-induced homicide cases were prosecuted in Cook County.

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 Posted on August 03, 2017 in Criminal Defense

Anyone who has been arrested on criminal charges faces a great deal of financial hardship, including bail, court fees, fines, attorney’s fees, and the possible loss of income. But what many people do not know is that when they are arrested, police can seize their money or property if they believe that it was used to commit a crime. This is known as civil asset forfeiture.

While civil asset forfeiture is meant to provide law enforcement with tools to disrupt the activities of large scale criminal organizations, the practice has come under fire in recent years due to its increased use in a wide variety of criminal cases. Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have argued that law enforcement officials disproportionately target lower-income individuals who do not have the resources to prove their innocence and reclaim their property.

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 Posted on July 31, 2017 in Theft

It is estimated that there exist approximately 27 million shoplifters in the United States. That means that one in 11 people have shoplifted at some point in their lives. In the last five years, over 10 million of those people have been caught. Shoplifting is so prevalent that there is even a community of proud shoplifters showing off pictures of items they have swiped on the social networking website Reddit. The community, which has over 30 thousand subscribers, is a forum for shoplifters to share methods, advice, and tricks of the trade. The welcome message touts “Welcome to Shoplifting! If you're here to preach morals, enjoy your very brief stay. If you're here to learn and share, please help contribute to our wonderful community of allegedly corrupt and soulless individuals.”

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 Posted on July 21, 2017 in DUI Defense

You can probably imagine what it feels like to be pulled over by the police on a night where you have had a few drinks, even if it has never happened to you before. The lights flash behind you and your heart sinks. By the time the officer is at your window, you are probably extremely nervous, but you want to make this go as smooth as possible so that you get home quickly. As expected, the officer asks if you have been drinking, and you honestly answer that you had a couple earlier. Then, the officer asks if you will take a breathalyzer test. Can you refuse?

Understanding the Law

According to Illinois law, drivers give their implied consent to submit to blood alcohol content (BAC) testing by operating a motor vehicle on the streets and roadways of the state. There is an important caveat, however. Implied consent only refers to testing that is conducted incident to an arrest for driving under the influence (DUI). This means that you are under no obligation whatsoever to take a BAC test unless and until you have been arrested on suspicion of DUI. Regardless of what the officer tells you, if you have not been arrested, you cannot be forced to take a breathalyzer.

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 Posted on July 15, 2017 in Criminal Defense

If you are facing criminal charges, you may be overwhelmed by the legal process that lies ahead. Depending on the nature and severity of the alleged offense—along with your own criminal history—you could be eligible for probation in lieu of serving time in jail. But, what is probation and who qualifies? A skilled criminal defense attorney can help you make sense of a challenging situation.

What Is Probation?

Probation is a sentencing alternative that offers offenders substantially more personal freedom while they serve their sentences. In most cases, an offender on probation can live at home, go to work, and live most of a normal life, but always under the close supervision of a probation officer. An individual on probation is required to abide the terms set by the court and his or her behavior is closely monitored. In some cases, probation begins immediately upon a finding of guilt while in others, it begins after a reduced jail sentence.

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 Posted on July 12, 2017 in Criminal Defense

Did you know that in 2015, more than 1,000 individuals at the Cook County Jail spent more time behind bars than they were actually sentenced to serve? These cases were not the result of clerical errors, lost files, or mistakes by jail staff. Many of them, rather, were the result of low-level criminal offenders not being able to afford cash bail. Instead of serving only their prescribed sentence, these inmates first sat in jail waiting for trial or for a plea bargain to finalize. Their crimes, in most cases, were so minor that their sentences were shorter than the amount of time they had already spent in jail.

Thanks to a new law signed last month by Governor Bruce Rauner, however, such cases should no longer be common in Cook County or anywhere else in the state. The measure, which took effect immediately, is being praised by criminal justice reform advocates as a significant step in the right direction.

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 Posted on June 30, 2017 in Traffic Tickets

Most drivers in Northern Illinois have been stopped by police for traffic violations at some point in their lives. In some cases, a driver may be stopped for a moving violation—such as speeding—only for the officer to discover other offenses—such as driving with an expired registration. As the citations pile up, it can lead to serious problems for a driver, but things may soon get a little easier for drivers in certain situations, as Cook County has announced a plan to limit prosecution on specific, financial-related traffic violations.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was elected in November, and since then, she has been changing the way the county’s prosecutors handle non-violent, low-level cases. Part of her efforts have been aimed at reducing crowded jails and prisons, but a reduction in available resources is also a major factor. According to some sources, county prosecutors are operating on about 70 percent of the resources they had just ten years ago, meaning that cuts must be made somewhere.

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 Posted on June 22, 2017 in Drugs and Narcotics

Prescription opioid abuse is now a full-blown epidemic in the United States. Between 1999 and 2015, an estimated 183,000 people died from opioid overdoses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1,000 people per day are treated in emergency rooms for misuse of opioids. Drug overdoses now cause more deaths annually than automobile crashes, and opioids are the leading cause of overdoses by a wide margin.

Many individuals who become addicted to opioid-based medication begin taking the medicine for a legitimate reason and have a doctor’s prescription. After the bottle of pills—often hydrocodone, oxycodone or meperidine—is empty, however, individuals look to illegal sources. Many turn to heroin, fentanyl, and other street products with potentially devastating effects. A new study suggests, however, that starting down the path of opioids is not the preferred solution for most patients in need of pain medication

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