Recent Blog Posts
Casual Relationship Contracts
If you are planning to get married in the near future, you may have given some thought to a prenuptial agreement. For those with complicated finances or business interests, a prenuptial agreement can be used to help avoid problems down the road. But what about your relationship itself? Is there anything you can do to designate who will have what responsibilities during your marriage? As it turns out, there just might be a type of non-binding contract worth your consideration.
A New Type of Marriage Contract
The New York Times recently ran an article entitled “To Stay in Love, Sign on the Dotted Line” which has created a great deal of interest in various circles. The author explains that she and her boyfriend use a relationship contract to keep track of their mutual goals and aspirations as well as to spell out rules for their relationship. The two live together so the contract specifies everything from who will do what chores and when to a dog-walking schedule to financial guidelines. For example, the contract provides that when the couple goes out to dinner the bill will be split but leaves exceptions for special events or if one person wants to treat the other. The author admits that this idea may seem businesslike, but that is it deeply important to her and her partner. “Writing a relationship contract may sound calculating or unromantic,” she writes, “but every relationship is contractual; we’re just making the terms more explicit. It reminds us that love isn’t something that happens to us - it’s something we’re making together.”
City Admits Wrongdoing When Trying to Fix Previous Error on Red Light Tickets
The city of Chicago had inaccuracies on 1.9 million red light and speed-camera tickets. In an attempt to correct this mistake, it appears that Mayor Rahm Emanuel may have exacerbated the issue.
City Hall sent mail to recipients of the red light and speed camera tickets. The letters received attempted to offer another chance to appeal the tickets in court. The measure is widely identified as an effortto ward off a class-action lawsuit, pleading that the city failed to provide ticket holders enough time or notice to challenge their tickets.
One Cook County resident received five red light camera tickets for which she could only make out two of the videos. She was quoted as saying, “It’s alarming that they would do something like this.”
An official spokesman, Michael Claffey, indicated that the process to correct the faultin the system denying people adequate notice to contest their tickets would take considerable time to rectify.
Criminal Cases: Who Needs Science for Scientific Evidence?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced that the National Commission on Forensic Science is to be dissolved. The National Commission on Forensic Science is a non-political commission whose mandate is to oversee and advance the reliability and preciseness of scientific evidence used in criminal cases.
The commission is made up of a mixed group of people who are trained to monitor and audit the uses of scientific evidence. Various agencies including federal, state, and local forensic service providerswork together to strengthen the reliability of forensic science as a whole and particularly how it is used in criminal cases.
Forensic evidence explains a type of evidence that can come in many forms. Forensic evidence can be:
- Dental records;
- Fingerprints;
- Genetic material;
- Trace chemicals;
My Teen Has Been Arrested. Now What?
Raising children can be one of the most rewarding yetchallenging parts of adult life. Our children goout into the world as extensions of ourselves, and as parents we constantly worryabout their safety and how we can keep them out of trouble. Weeven attempt to plan ahead for any potential issues that may arise-we teach ourchildren the difference between right and wrong and instill moral values. Still, bad decisions are made.
Decisions can Become Criminal in a Split Second
It only takes a moment for an otherwise thoughtful and law abiding teen to make a decision that can change the rest of his or her life. According to federal records in 2010, 1.6 million juveniles were arrested. Recent governmental research suggests that nearly 30.2 percent of American citizens will be arrested by the time they are 23 years of age.
Illinois Mayor Opposes Consent Decree
When recently asked about an independent federal monitor, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel explained that “it is exactly the right way,” in regards to proposed oversight for the Chicago Police Department.
Negotiations between the Mayor and the Justice Department are focused on a memorandum of agreement. This would incorporate the structure for approving reforms that federal authorities have advocated for in the wake of several controversies whichhave rocked the Chicago Police Department in recent years.
Justice Department approval would still be required for the oversight measures to go into effect. The measures would include explicit oversight by an appointed independent monitor to oversee the proposed reforms. The Mayor’s administration believes that this is an important step further. However, some reform advocates are not satisfied.
The Difference Between an Assault Charge and a Battery Charge
Assault and battery is a common criminal charge. We often see the charges linked together as if they are the same offense. However, in the state of Illinois, these are two distinct charges that many times go hand in hand with each other but do not have to.
Criminal assault in Illinoisis defined as an act or conduct that places another individual in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm. Whereas, a battery is the actual unwanted, unsolicited physical conduct which usually immediately follows an assault. Still, there can be a battery without the accompanying assault charge-the same way one can be charged with assault without being charged with a battery.
Why Does the Difference Matter?
The difference between the two matters because the available defenses differ based on the crime or crimes with which you are being charged. For example, self-defense is a common defense to a battery allegation; however, self-defense is not a traditional defense to a pure assault charge.General defenses to assault and battery charges include:
How Stalkers Can Use Your Own Phone Against You
Cyberstalking is becoming an increasingly common component of domestic abuse. Most cell phones have GPS and location features which could be providing an abuser with a victim’s exact location, and it happens more than you might think.
To determine the extent of the problem, NPR interviewed 70 domestic violence shelters across the United States, and the results are staggering. Nearly 85 percent of shelters reported that they work with victims whose abusers used GPS to stalk and harass them. Even more disturbing, three-quarters of shelters have found hidden apps on victims’ mobile devices used to eavesdrop on conversations. Most domestic abuse shelters encourage victims to turn off the location services on their cell phones and to disconnect from social media apps like Facebook to help prevent this.
The Main Goal of Stalking Is to Gain Control
Cell phones are not the only risk related to being cyberstalked. A woman in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, discovered a GPS tracking device in her shoes, which was feeding location information to her abuser. Many abusers will use the information gathered from these types of malware to harass their victims and gain power over them. For example, an abuser may constantly question the victims’ whereabouts and forbid them from going to certain homes or locations.
Illinois Innocence Project
You were innocent. You knew it all along and now you have your freedom. Butwhat happensnext?
There is a group operating out of Springfield, Illinois called the Illinois Innocence Project. They have been working since early 2001 to overturn wrongful criminal convictions in Illinois. At the start,their primary focus was exonerating inmates through legal avenues, and the group has had much success.
The most recent example of their success was the release ofoneman, Charles Palmer, who was set free the day before thanksgiving in 2016, after he had been forced to spend 18 years of his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
A surprising yet inevitable new issue to address arose when the Illinois Innocence Project noticed that many times the people whowere exonerated lacked educational, emotional, or familial support once they were released.
When Police Confiscate Property
Illinois lawmakers unanimouslypassed a measure making it more arduous for law enforcement to confiscate property from innocent owners. The bill passed in the Senate and will now head to the house.
The plan would shift the burden of proof to authorities in circumstances where they seize an individual’s property under a criminal investigation. As it stands, Illinois law allows for the confiscation of an individual’s property even in cases where no formal charges are levied against the owner.
There is a strong financial incentive for law enforcement agencies to seize property. Once the property has been taken, then the agency who took possession of the property, in many cases, reaps the rewards of the proceeds from the civil asset forfeiture. In addition to not having a constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel once a person has had his or herproperty seized, it can be costly to challenge and often leaves people with no mechanism to get their property back.
10-Year-Olds and Juvenile Detention
A sweeping wave of legislation aimed at restructuring the juvenile criminal system in Illinois has taken hold. Many lawmakers and civil rights activists nationwide are advocating for less punitive sentences for minors who are ensnared in the criminal justice system.
Minors and Juvenile Detention
Illinois law demands that the minimum age that a child can be held in a juvenile detention center is 10. The nationwide regulation is 13, as recommended by the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative-a Maryland-based private philanthropy foundation. The minimum age in Illinois to serve time in a juvenile state prison, as opposed to juvenile detention, is 13.
Illinois lawmakers and juvenile justice advocates are arguing that the age required to be detained in a juvenile detention center should be raised to 13. It seems unlikely that a bill would pass, however, without language carving out an exception for certain classifications of felonies. Advocates of raising the age to 13 argue that adding an exception would ruin the intent of the bill.
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