Imagine going out to dinner in Chicago on a Friday night in April 2020 after a long day of work. You decide to eat at a new Asian fusion restaurant with your significant other. After dinner, you walk along the river and choose to enjoy smoking some marijuana. Is that legal? As of January 1, recreational smoking marijuana will be legal, but you will not be able to smoke it everywhere. Marijuana enthusiasts rejoiced when the state of Illinois legalized...

The relationship between Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Police Department is in the spotlight this week. Lightfoot made derogatory comments about the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Vice President Patrick Murray during a City Council meeting on July 24, 2019. While Murray walked up to the podium to speak, Mayor Lightfoot stated, "Back again. This is this FOB clown." Naturally, Murray and police officers around the state are unhappy with Lightfoot calling a 30-year veteran law enforcement officer...

A Peoria County, Illinois, man has been a prisoner in the Illinois jail system for almost 40 years. He allegedly sexually assaulted a victim, and even though he had no previous criminal convictions based on sex crimes, he is still incarcerated. Why is this man serving nearly four decades in jail after committing one sexual assault? The reason involved a little-emphasized Illinois law called the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act. Though the law in question has been in existence since the...

Imagine that you have just gone through a terrible breakup with a long-time partner. Your relationship had been falling apart for a while, and you finally had that last explosive argument and ended the relationship permanently. While extremely upset, you decide to make an attempt to move on with your life. You gather your belongings and move into a new apartment. While you are walking in the door of your new apartment, you receive a call from a good friend...

Imagine being a drug dealer in a state like Illinois that recently legalized marijuana. Illinois drug dealers have lost the majority of their cannabis customer base in Illinois. Now that marijuana is legalized in several states, drug dealers and cartels are turning to selling harder drugs to maintain profits. Since Colorado and Washington state legalized the recreational use of cannabis six years ago, the variety of cannabis products has expanded. Cannabis consumers in the United States have become so picky...

On February 15, Gary Martin opened fire at a warehouse in Aurora, Illinois after finding out he had been fired. He fatally shot five of his coworkers and wounded five police officers and a union representative. He used a Smith and Wesson handgun that he purchased using a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card legally five years earlier. Martin should never have been allowed to purchase a handgun by law because was a convicted felon. Five separate federal background check databases...

Imagine growing up in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where the drug cartels are in full force. Every day you wake up worried that you or a loved one may be killed in drug-related violence. As violence escalates among small marijuana farmers, or campesinos, another problem is brewing. With more U.S. states legalizing cannabis, this violence is increasing among drug cartels. Part of the reason this violence is increasing is due to cartels making fewer profits off the sale of...

You go over to a friend's house for dinner and enjoy two glasses of wine. You wait an hour or so, and eat dessert. After dessert, you do not feel buzzed at all, and you enjoy smoking some marijuana and a small amount of another controlled substance with your friends. After checking in with yourself once again, you determine that you are perfectly fine to drive your car home. While driving down the highway, you hear police sirens and look...

It is a common scenario. You are at a friend's house for dinner, and you decide to have a beer. Then you think, what the heck, and have one more beer. Perhaps you stop to evaluate yourself before getting into your car. You do not feel drunk at all — after all, you only had two beers. You slowly back your car out of the driveway and you begin to think that this is a bad decision, but you are...

We have all been there. You are excited to have a day off of work, ready to barbeque, relax, and enjoy some alcoholic beverages. One drink turns into several drinks, and by the end of your Fourth of July party, you are feeling a bit woozy, but you think you are okay to drive. You get your keys and start driving. No matter who or where you are, getting into your car after a Fourth of July party while drunk...

You are over at a friend's house and decide to partake in marijuana. Two hours later, you do not feel high anymore, so you decide to get into your car and drive home. You know that recreational marijuana is legal in as of January 1, 2020 Illinois, and you do not feel high, so you are not that worried. Driving within two hours of using cannabis is not uncommon, but even those who no longer feel “high” risk being pulled...

Representative Avery Bourne of Raymond, Illinois, 34 weeks pregnant herself, gave an impassioned pro-life speech against the newly passed Illinois abortion law on the Illinois congressional floor. The abortion rights issue has recently risen to the forefront of national and Illinois politics. The Illinois House of Representatives voted to pass a new abortion law that would remove almost all abortion restrictions at the end of May. Representative Kelly Cassidy's Reproductive Health Act will remove 45-year-old limits on abortion. Some late-term...

The Illinois Senate passed a law that legalizes the recreational use of marijuana after January 1, 2020. The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act authorizes the "use of cannabis" for "persons 21 years of age or older and should be taxed like alcohol." Now anyone over the age of 21 and a citizen of Illinois can possess up to 30 grams of cannabis legally. Non-residents may only legally possess up to 15 grams. Residents may lawfully possess one ounce of a...

The Perry County Police Department arrested a man for possession of marijuana in May of 2019, two weeks before legalizing marijuana possession throughout the state. The man who was arrested had less than 10 grams of marijuana in his possession when he was arrested. A new Illinois law that goes into effect January 1, 2020, decriminalizes possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana for Illinois Citizens and possession of 15 grams of less for non-citizens of Illinois. Under the...

You have been with your partner for years, while you feel you have experienced more bad with them than good. Your partner habitually hurls insults at you, acts out in jealousy, and has a generally explosive temper. You sense that your partner seeks to isolate you from your family and friends. You are beginning to fear for your safety, but you are not sure what to do or how to get out of a bad situation. Did you know that...