During recent oral arguments, the US Supreme Court Justices were skeptical of laws in nearby Minnesota, and twelve other states, which make it a crime for drivers to refuse intoxication tests. Several Justices appeared to seek a middle ground, since the Court currently has only eight members. Justice Stephen Breyer spoke for several of his colleagues when he said that states could render the matter moot by simply obtaining warrants prior to these tests. He stated that it takes only...

Only about 0.0015% of offenders in Illinois are eligible for a restricted driving permit under the state’s new laws regarding DUI and driving privileges. That number includes fewer than 1,500 offenders in all of suburban Chicago. Persons with four prior DUI convictions may obtain RDPs if they agree to have ignition interlock devices installed in their vehicles and they have been out of prison at least five years. State Representative Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook), who originally sponsored the measure, believes that...

A pair of former Northwestern University students face multiple serious charges after an alleged vandalism incident at an on-campus building. Prosecutors claim that 18-year-old Matthew Kafker and 19-year-old Anthony Morales spray-painted homophobic phrases, racial and ethnic slurs, phallic images, and the word “Trump” on the walls of the campus’ Alice Millar Chapel. The case is made primarily of surveillance video which supposedly shows Messrs. Kafker and Morales entering the chapel with cans of spray paint in the early morning hours;...

Thirteen years after government agents used forfeiture laws to seize over $100,000 in cash from an area man, even though he was never charged with a crime, he is still fighting to get it back. Wood Dale resident Douglas Marrocco says he was unable to get a bank account, so he kept large amounts of cash in a shoebox, in a bowl, and even in his clothes. In 2002, he gave $101,200 to Vincent Fallon, a trusted friend who was...

A nationwide movement is afoot to reconsider the bonding and pretrial release systems that most states use. In most cases, when criminal suspects are arrested, they are jailed immediately and indefinitely until they post bond. In most cases, the judge determines the amount according to the severity of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, and perhaps a few other relevant factors. But according to the Justice Department and many advocacy groups, setting bond without regard to indigency violates the Fourteenth...

Addison officials have yet to release any statistics from a March 2016

According to a recently released study, Cook County criminal courts may be tainted by systemic inequality within the Chicago Police Department. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel commissioned a task force to examine allegations of widespread unfair treatment inside the CPD, and the committee issued over 100 recommendations for change. These recommendations were based on some rather troubling statistics. Although Chicago’s population is roughly one-third white, one-third black, and one-third Hispanic, the subject was black in 46% of traffic stops and 72%...

Most of the 64 people arrested in a major operation were already on the Chicago Police Department’s drug crime “watch list.” Authorities execute 35 different search warrants at several dozen South Side businesses and homes; the arrests included 50 felony drug charges, three felony charges of unlawful weapons possession, and a number of unspecified misdemeanor charges. Interim police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said that the “targeted mission” would continue as “part of an ongoing initiative to help further reduce the ability...

In addition to its social stigma, a criminal conviction often makes it difficult or impossible to work in certain occupations or live in certain places. If rehabilitation really is a goal of the penal system, then some form of expungement must be available, at least in most cases. There are informal expungement procedures in most jurisdictions, in the form of pretrial diversion programs and deferred adjudication probation. But, by and large, there programs either have strict requirements or, from a...

A Rosemont man faces up to seven years in prison after being charged with his fourth DUI, following a traffic stop in Cook County. Officers claim they observed 56-year-old Paul Rojas driving well below the speed limit and swerving inside his lane. After pulling him over, officers claim that Mr. Rojas smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. After failing field sobriety tests, he was arrested and subsequently refused to submit to a breath test, according to the report. A...

An area woman who, in a moment of confusion, apparently mistook the West Riverside train tracks for Traube Street was arrested for DUI. A Riverside Police Department officer had just watched a freight train pass through a crossing when he saw a 2004 Saturn driving on the tracks. After contacting dispatch and requesting that railroad traffic on the line be stopped, the officer exited his car and pursued the Saturn some 200 feet on foot. The driver, later identified as...

A recent law in the Beehive State requires persons who are convicted of certain financial crimes to register with a state agency. Could such a system be coming to the Land of Lincoln soon? The White Collar Crime Offender Registry, which has been accessible online since February 2016, contains about 100 offenders. Each entry contains the name, date of birth, and photograph of the offender, as well as a brief synopsis of the offense. For now, the list is limited...

Modern Illinois is a mobile society. On average, most people relocate twelve times, or roughly once every four years, during their adult lifetimes. Since many of these moves are job-based, both custody and support modification is probably in order. In these instances, many people rely on “side agreements” rather than modification orders. Sometimes these agreements are oral, and in the immortal words of Samuel Goldwyn, “an oral contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” Other agreements are text message...

Having a clear vision in place early on in the divorce process is important, since many big decisions are made in the opening weeks of the case, and it can be difficult to reverse these trends later. Divorce cases are similar to the early days of the founding of our great nation because just as the future of the country was at stake in 1787, the future of your family is at stake in any divorce case. In 1787, James...

Four people were shot in an exchange of gunfire between three Chicago police officers and an alleged gang member with a long history of drug-related arrests. 29-year-old Lamar Harris was under investigation for “possible narcotics activity” when he apparently ran from police in the Holman Square area of the West Side of Chicago. Officers pursued on foot and soon cornered Mr. Harris in an unlit apartment complex courtyard. The shooting began as officers converged on the suspect. Three officers were...