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Recent Blog Posts
Exploring Juvenile Diversion Programs in Illinois
When your child is in legal trouble, it can be extremely stressful for the entire family. Often times, you do not know what will happen to your child, whether or not they will serve jail time and what non-legal repercussions will come of your child’s situation. While some juvenile offenders have committed crimes that are serious enough to warrant juvenile detention, most children in juvenile detention are serving time for minor offenses and have significant mental health issues. Juvenile detention is the youth equivalent to adult incarceration, but studies have shown that not all juveniles benefit from being in detention. This is why juvenile diversion programs were created as an alternative to incarceration.
What Are Diversion Programs?
Juvenile diversion programs are used to redirect juvenile offenders out of the justice system by using programming, supervision, and support. Most juvenile offenders who are a part of a diversion program have committed minor offenses
Does Illinois Law Protect My Right to Shoot in Self-Defense?
Illinois does not have a “Stand Your Ground” or “Castle Doctrine” law, nor does it have a “Duty to Retreat” law. Instead, Illinois has a “Justifiable Use of Force” law, 750 ILCS 5/7, passed in 2004. Of particular importance to Concealed Carry License (CCL) holders and other firearms owners in Illinois, this law defines when you can use “reasonable force” versus “deadly force” in a self-defense situation.
Illinois Law on Self-Defense and Defense of Other People
The Illinois Use of Force in Defense of Person statute (750 ILCS 5/7-1) provides the following guidelines:
- You can fight back with equivalent force if you reasonably believe that you or another person is about to be unlawfully attacked. For example, if an attacker comes at you with a knife, you can strike back with any heavy or sharp object available to you or wield a chair or other large object as a shield;
What You Need to Know About Assault and Battery in Will County
Are cases of assault and battery rising in Joliet and Will County? It is hard to say for certain because FBI crime statistics for a given year are not published until a full year later. But, a recent look at the Will County court docket suggests that there multiple victims in the county every day of crimes such as domestic battery involving bodily harm and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
Who Commits Battery and Who Are the Victims?
According to figures released by the FBI in 2018, roughly one-fourth of the victims of violent physical crimes are related to their attackers, and roughly half know their attackers but are not related to them.
What Types of Battery Crimes Happen in Will County?
Most arrests for battery in Will County involve physical contact with only minor injuries. Bodily harm appears to be more common in domestic cases than when the parties are not related or living in the same household.
What Is the Punishment for Aggravated Battery in Will County?
Illinois Child Endangerment Laws and Consequences
Almost everything that Illinois courts do with issues pertaining to children is in the child’s best interests and to protect the child’s wellbeing. Illinois courts believe that children have an inherent right to have loving, safe and caring homes, which is why any and all accusations of child abuse, neglect and endangerment are taken very seriously. Being accused of child endangerment is a serious situation. Not only will you face criminal charges and punishments, but you will also face stigma from friends, family, coworkers and other people who access your criminal record.
What is Child Endangerment?
According to Illinois law, child endangerment occurs when a person knowingly “causes or permits a child to be placed in circumstances that endanger the child’s life or health.” Though this is a rather vague statement, it is typically understood that child endangerment charges are entered when a person puts a child in immediate danger. Common examples of child endangerment include:
Disorderly Conduct for Filing a False Police Report
Earlier this year, headlines across the country were ablaze with reports that an actor had been attacked outside a sandwich shop in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago. The actor, an openly gay African-American, reported to Chicago police that he was walking to his apartment when two men approached him, hit him, and put a noose around his neck, all while yelling homophobic and racial slurs and making references to President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
Holes in the Story
In the weeks that followed, details of the story began to fall apart, and authorities started to believe that the actor orchestrated the staged attack. An investigation suggested that the “victim” had paid two men to fake an attack, but his motives for doing so were unclear. The actor was eventually arrested and charged with one count of disorderly conduct for making a false report to police. When additional evidence was presented to a Cook County grand jury in early March, the Grand jury came back with 15 additional counts, one for each statement made to police.
What is Considered an Unlawful Vehicle Search by Police?
In the United States, certain limitations are placed on how and when police can search a person’s private property. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that citizens have the right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” and that no search warrants should be issued “but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” If evidence used against you in a criminal proceeding was obtained via an unlawful search, the evidence, or entire case, may be dismissed.
Police Can Search Your Car if You Give Them Consent
There are several ways that police have the authority to search an individual’s personal property. One of these is if the owner of the property gives the police consent or permission. For example, if you are pulled over for a traffic infraction and the police ask if they can search your vehicle and you say yes, this is a lawful search. Police may ask in a roundabout way to search your vehicle, saying something like, “You do not mind if I take a look around, do you?” Consenting to vehicle searches automatically makes them legal in the eyes of the law. Citizens do have the right to refuse an officer’s request to search their vehicle, but saying no will not necessarily stop the search from occurring.
Types of Driver Distractions and Consequences for Distracted Driving
There has been much research conducted on the ability and effectiveness of humans when they multitask. Though many people still say they are good at multitasking, the consensus is that humans cannot multitask efficiently. We often make mistakes when we multitask and we have to go back to figure out what other task we were doing. When it comes to driving, we already have a plethora of tasks to do behind the wheel. Make sure you are going at an appropriate speed, periodically check your rearview and side mirrors, constantly scan the road in front of you, pay attention to other drivers - the list goes on. When we allow other things to distract us while we are driving, that just adds one more thing to the list. Distracted driving is not tolerated in Illinois and you could face serious consequences if you are caught.
Types of Distractions
There are many types of distractions that could take away your attention from driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that they are three main type of distractions:
Truck Drivers at Risk of Arrest as Police Cannot Differentiate Legal Hemp from Illegal Marijuana
Law enforcement officials across the country are struggling to adapt to the provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill that differentiated hemp, now an agricultural commodity, from marijuana, which remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance. The Farm Bill legalized the regulated production of hemp as well as the interstate transport of hemp. As a result of police confusion, there have already been two highly publicized cases of confusion in early 2019. In both cases, interstate truckers were wrongfully arrested on marijuana trafficking charges when their cargo was actually legal hemp.
Differentiating Industrial Hemp from Illegal Marijuana
The main problem is that hemp and marijuana are just different strains of the Cannabis sativa L. plant, varying primarily in their THC content. Neither police officers nor drug-sniffing dogs nor quick “does it contain any THC?” roadside tests can tell the difference. Legal hemp and illegal marijuana look the same and smell the same. Chemical testing of an 18,000-pound load of hemp may take weeks, in part due to backlogs at testing labs, by which point a semitrailer of plant material worth over $500,000 may be unsaleable.
When is Theft Considered a Felony in Illinois?
Shoplifting is often seen as a minor criminal offense by the general public. Many adults remember attempting to steal a candy bar as a child or know somebody who has swiped a lipstick or two from a drug store. These instances of theft may seem harmless, but stealing is not a victimless crime. Retail stores are constantly looking for ways to mitigate the losses from shoplifting and states are increasingly becoming stricter with punitive consequences for theft. Furthermore, shoplifting high-value items can be considered a felony offense in Illinois. If you have been charged with theft in Illinois, you may be facing a felony which can have life-altering consequences.
Defining Theft as Per Illinois Law
Illinois Statute 720 ILCS 5/16-1 defines theft as obtaining someone else’s property through deception, threat, or without consent. A person may also be charged with theft if he or she knowing buys or otherwise obtains stolen property. The severity of punishment for those convicted of theft is typically determined by the total value of the property that was stolen. If the item which was stolen costs less than $500, it is typically considered a Class A misdemeanor offense. This is punishable by less than one year in prison and up to $2,500 in fines.
Is a Medical Condition or Act of God a Valid DUI Defense?
If you have been charged aggravated driving under the influence (DUI) because you caused an accident in which other people were seriously were seriously injured, you may feel there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered in your case. Whenever there are unusual circumstances in a legal case, it may be worth taking the case to trial so that all the facts can be laid out for a judge or jury to consider. Even if you are still found guilty, mitigating circumstances can be considered in sentencing.
However, your attorney will also carefully investigate the law and any case precedents to determine your chances of winning.
A Recent Example
A recent Illinois case provides a useful illustration of these principles. This defendant was charged with aggravated DUI because she caused a collision with injuries, and she tested positive for marijuana. In her defense, the woman argued that she was not impaired by marijuana at the time, although she admitted to illegal marijuana use in the past. Instead, she argued, her medical condition of low blood pressure had caused her to lose consciousness, leading to the collision.
