The best way to permanently bury a criminal record in drug cases is an expungement or sealing proceeding. But such procedures are not available to everyone. The law usually limits expungement and sealing to persons with no criminal record and certain types of criminal prosecutions. Moreover, there is usually a waiting period 2 years after successful completion of deferred prosecution to begin the expungement process and of up to five years on some types of cases. Because of these drawbacks,...

Relief from a prior drug conviction is a common feature of many marijuana legalization pushes, and also one of the most attractive features of these initiatives. Currently, marijuana is a controlled substance under both state and federal law. Any conviction is serious business. Typically, the record does not specify the type of substance. So, many people assume that when they see a drug conviction on your record is for something much stronger, like LSD or cocaine. Partially in response to...

State lawmakers recently approved a measure that would not only allow people to substitute medical marijuana for their opioid prescriptions, but also streamline the medical marijuana process. If the governor signs the bill, it may increase the confusion with regard to drug laws in this area. Since 2011, opioid overdoses have killed over 11,000 people in Illinois. Marijuana overdoses have killed zero people over that same time period. While marijuana’s side-effects continue to be hotly debated, “Opioids kill people, and...

There is a growing undercurrent in Illinois law that possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use is not a major crime. In fact, there is a growing body of evidence that marijuana arrests serve no useful purpose and simply soak up law enforcement resources. The other side of this equation is that the fines that courts collect from marijuana arrests, and the probation cases these arrests engender, help keep many criminal justice systems financially afloat. However, everyone can...

Details are still sketchy regarding a South Side defense of property shooting that seriously wounded two people. Apparently, two men in their 20s entered a store on West 75th Street. They brandished weapons and made threats. The business-owner then fired several shots, hitting one attacker in the abdomen and the other one in the arm. After fleeing the scene, both would-be armed robbers showed up a short time later at a nearby hospital. They are both expected to survive. A...

A federal jury ordered the City of Chicago to pay over $17 million to a man who spent over two decades serving time for a crime he did not commit. Much earlier, prosecutors charged Jacques Rivera with the 1988 shooting death of 16-year-old Felix Valentin. A jury convicted Mr. Rivera, largely on the testimony of lone eyewitness Oscar Lopez, who was only 12 at the time. More recently, Lopez has told several people several times that Rivera was not the...

The setting may sound like fiction, but it is very much a true story that is taking place right here in Cook County. The victim’s husband says it was a tragic car accident; the prosecutor insists it was murder. In 1973, a 19-year-old woman died after sustaining a cervical spine fracture. The coroner’s report listed the cause of death as “accidental.” Now, prosecutors say they have uncovered evidence that the woman’s now 76-year-old husband killed his wife and staged the...

A local 27-year-old man must wait for his trial date in jail, after a Cook County judge denied pretrial release. He was running from Chicago police trying to make a traffic stop on North Le Mai Avenue when the man went through two stoplights and smashed into a taxicab. That cab, which was at the intersection of Grand and Dearborn, carried a 66-year-old woman in the rear seat. She was killed almost instantly, according to authorities. Three other people —...

In a previous post, Sargent Sam had just made a really bad decision. Although he was not drunk, those Mexican beers were definitely enough to give him a buzz. When it comes to the “blow or not to blow” choice, some might point to one of those impairment charts which purport to connect the number of drinks with a BAC score. These charts only apply to Joe and Jane Average, so they are pretty much useless. Many people, including some...

If you have a concealed weapon license, it is 100% legal to have a gun in your home. In fact, it is a little easier to obtain such a license in the Prairie State than it is in some jurisdictions. In Illinois, the decision-maker can only reject your application for certain objective reasons. In other places, the decision-maker can block your application with just a vague “I have a bad feeling about this” objection. Carrying a concealed weapon in public...

Sargent Sam looks forward to his brother-in-law’s annual Fourth of July party more than he looks forward to Christmas. That party means fireworks, food, family, and friends. The party also means one or two Mexican beers with lime wedges. Like many of us, Sam knows that it is best to Uber back and forth so he does not need to worry about drinking and driving. But, like many of us, planning ahead is not always Sam’s forte. Despite the fact...

Some of the most successful professional salespeople in Chicagoland sell real estate. Property values have largely bounced back since the Great Recession. The negative equity percentage is still high, but it is much lower than it was around 2010. So, for the most part, real estate commissions are as healthy as they have been in recent years. This means that an Illinois real estate license is quite valuable. Especially since real estate license-holders work so hard to obtain those licenses,...

A license to carry a concealed weapon is not synonymous with a license to use it. These are two different things. As for the latter, Illinois’ self-defense laws are still in full effect. These laws are some of the most limited such ordinances in the country. Nevertheless, self-defense is an effective defense to battery, assault, and even murder in many cases. In a nutshell, the use of force, even deadly force, is justified if the actor reasonably believes that the...

Most legislation is a bundle of compromises, and that is certainly true of Illinois’ carrying a concealed weapon law. Many law enforcement agencies bitterly opposed the measure. These groups rather understandably resist anything that puts more weapons on the streets. However, citizens do have a limited Constitutional right to bear arms. Most all other states had already codified this right into a weapons carry law. So, here is the compromise: It is rather easy to obtain a CCW permit in...

The Prairie State is one of the few jurisdictions that requires roofers to be licensed. Some roofers in Chicago see that requirement as a good thing. It gives the profession more prestige, they argue. Furthermore, they say, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation oversight basically serves as an alternative to the rather harsh criminal and civil liability that wayward roofers can face. Others do not agree. They insist that the additional regulatory burden is unnecessary and unwanted. Like them...