Recent Blog Posts
The Basics of Shoplifting in Illinois
Shoplifting is typically a crime committed by citizens who follow the majority of other laws. The National Association for Shoplifting Prevention reported that between 2001 and 2006, roughly 10 million people were caught shoplifting. It is also estimated that almost 10 percent of all Americans shoplift.
The National Self Help & Support Center defines shoplifting as “theft or stealing of any kind from a retail store…taking merchandise from a retail store without paying for it or without intending to pay for it.”
What’s important to know is that shoplifting laws are different in every state and many laws also vary between each local jurisdiction as well. This post is specific to Illinois
If you have been caught shoplifting for the first time, you should call a criminal attorney to help you get a lighter penalty for your first offense. Many factors will be considered when the court decides what your sentence will be including if you have completed an education program and if you have shoplifted previously.
Zero Tolerance in Illinois
According to United States law, no person under the age of 21 is allowed to consume alcohol and no person of any age is allowed to drive while intoxicated. Many times, adults will have a couple drinks and drive home safely, with a blood alcohol content below the legal level of 0.08. If a person under 21, however, is pulled over and is found to have a blood alcohol content of anything above 0.0, he or she can be charged.
This is called thezero tolerance policy of Illinois for underage drinking, says CyberDriveIllinois.com. If a person under 21 is caught driving with even a trace of alcohol in his or her system, he or she will lose all driving privileges. Police officers can only pull over a person if he or she has probable cause.
Probable causes can include:
Illinois Supreme Court Discusses Cook County Court System
Arecent article revealed that the Illinois Supreme Court is not pleased with the way criminal suspects are handled in the Cook County court system. The Supreme Court’s report said that those who are charged with a crime needlessly await trial behind bars due to a lack of leadership within the county’s court system and a misunderstanding of basic court services.
Pretrial Services
The report mainly discussed pretrial services, which is a division within the adult probation department. The original purpose of this division was to alleviate the issue of overcrowded prisons by helping determine if defendants should be kept in custody or released pending trial. Pretrial officers are responsible for screening defendants who are brought in by Chicago police in order to make this determination.
“Ban the Box” Fight and Related Recidivism Risk
In filling out numerous types of documents and applications required for everyday things, many of us have likely noticed questions related to prior felony convictions. It may not be applicable to everyone, but for those who have to indicate a prior conviction, it could mean they are denied a job or a home and, as a result, a new start. A recent article discussed the discrimination associated with those who have a criminal record, as well as a campaign started by a prisoners’ rights organization aimed at removing the question from public employee forms.
Ban the Box
Ten years ago, the organization All of Us or None began the “Ban the Box” campaign, which 10 states and dozens of local jurisdictions have joined, in an effort to get any questions about prior felony convictions removed from public employee forms. They have had some success recently, which has propelled a movement at the national level to improve hiring opportunities for mostly non-violent criminal offenders.
Do Crime Dramas Promote Police Violence?
There is no shortage of crime dramas on television today. On almost any day, at almost any hour, you are practically guaranteed to find such a show being aired on at least one network. Most of these shoes involve any variety of law enforcement officers solving a crime and apprehending a suspect before the hour is up. And in many instances, the officers depicted use whatever means necessary to catch the perpetrator to or get a confession. The overarching theme suggested is that police violence, even when extreme, is an acceptable way to battle crime.
Recently,an interesting article explored this idea in depth as it specifically related to a particular crime show, "Chicago PD." While not every idea posed by the article is mentioned here, a handful of topics the article discussed are especially relevant to criminal defense and criminal defendants in the Chicago area.
New App Designed to Combat Bullying
The issue of bullying and cyberbullyinghas increasingly become a hot topic of discussion among members of the public. And while technology has become so ingrained in our everyday lives, it also plays a huge part in making young people the victims of bullying. However, asreported recently by the Chicago Tribune, technology is now being employed to combat bullying as well.
CombatHate App
Chicago officials recently encouraged the use of a new app that could be used to combat online bullying. The app is called CombatHate, and is available for teens to install on their cell phones. It allows the user to take photos or write descriptions of hate speech they find online and send the information anonymously to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is an international Jewish human rights organization. The Center then takes the lead in reporting any information to law enforcement that could be the basis of an online crime. The app also enables patterns of hate that appear online to be tracked, whether the actions rise to the criminal level or not.
Cracking Down on Sex Trafficking in Chicago
It goes without saying that sex crimes of any nature are very serious cases that should be handled with special care and attention. Sex crimes can involve a variety of incidents leading to criminal charges, but the government and law enforcement in the Chicago area are focusing their efforts on human trafficking, and the organizations involved in promoting it. A recent article explained the city’s actions in relation to targeting those culpable of such crimes.
Government Action
United States Senator Mark Kirk and Anita Alvarez, a Cook County State’s Attorney, called for the partnering of local and federal officials to put an end to sex trafficking across the country. One of their efforts includes preventing websites from contributing to the trafficking. They even went so far as to say human trafficking was really just modern day slavery. The Senator said that just as Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th amendment, which put an end to slavery, the state was in a unique position to put a similar end to human trafficking. He said a good place to start would be to stop the publication of sex ads on websites, many of which are also responsible for prostitution advertising.
Law Enforcement Prepared for St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
St. Patrick’s Day means ham and cabbage for some and imbibing substantial amounts of alcohol for others. Particularly for the college-age students, it seems that law enforcement in Illinois is aware of, and cracking down on, those who choose to participate in the latter.
Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day
According to a recent article, law enforcement agencies met with representatives from the University of Illinois to discuss ways to mitigate the risks that are commonly associated with the celebration of unofficial St. Patrick’s Day. Even though both groups have tried to discourage people from participating in the event, they realize that some partake nonetheless. According to police, the event promotes both underage and binge drinking and results in injuries and even fatalities in years past.
Breaking the Law
Both law enforcement and University offices and agencies planned ahead of time to work together during the event to enforce laws relating to underage drinking, private parties, and drunk driving, among other hazards. They discussed holding tenants responsible for the conduct of any party attendees, including limiting the number of people on balconies and refraining from throwing objects from them, as required by local ordinances. Hosts of parties who violated any laws, including allowing alcohol consumption by those under 21, will face criminal charges and not solely a city ordinance violation.
Could Marijuana Possession be Decriminalized?
In an effort to address the problem of ever-growing prison populations, a recent article reported that an Illinois lawmaker is proposing lower penalties for offenses involving small amounts of some drugs. The proposal includes decriminalizing low-level marijuana possession in favor of punishing the offense with a citation comparable to a traffic ticket.
The Proposal
The proposed change, coming from Rep. Michael Zalewski, a Democrat from Riverside, is part of a recent interest in realigning the criminal justice system in order to decrease the population of inmates in prisons across Illinois. He said his plan would also include lessening the penalty for possession of small amounts of other drugs, including heroin and cocaine. The proposal as it relates to marijuana would impart a $250.00 fine for the first such offense.
Proposed Law Targets Actions of Police Dispatchers
It is widely known that those who work in law enforcement are held to relatively high standards. Police officers are responsible for upholding the law, and for conducting themselves in an honest way in investigations and when communicating with suspects. While many may expect the same level of professionalism from those who work closely with law enforcement though, the fact of the matter is that most public employees whose positions overlap with law enforcement are not duty-bound to uphold the law.
Different Legal Consequences
Police dispatchers regularly fulfill their duties, much like the police officers with whom they team, to serve and protect members of the public. However, they, unlike members of law enforcement, cannot be prosecuted for certain violations, such as revealing information to suspects regarding investigations targeting them. A recent article suggests that this may change if Illinois enacts a proposed law from Senator Dave Koehler from Peoria, which passed to the Senate last week.
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