With the right liability reforms, Illinois can protect businesses and make them more likely to give ex-offenders a chance at employment.
Senate Bill 2871 would give courts in Illinois the ability to ban juveniles’ access to social media and require them to turn over passwords to law-enforcement officials.
To get ex-offenders back to work and reduce crime, Illinois needs to lift restrictions on the right to earn a living .
Should a teenage crime of desperation shackle an ex-offender for life? This is the question facing Illinois state politicians, who, due to a law they passed in 2011, must reckon with the likes of Lisa Creason, a 43-year-old mother from Decatur, Illinois. By all accounts, Lisa Creason is a respected member of her community. She’s...
How to reform a broken criminal-justice system that prevents ex-offenders from achieving self-sufficiency
A court decision involving the government’s seizure of more than $270,000 from two Chicagoans highlights major problems with civil asset forfeiture.
Even a very small reduction in recidivism – just 5 percent – would save Illinois taxpayers nearly $187 million over nine years. But if Illinois’ recidivism rate stays the same, taxpayers will pay approximately $5.7 billion for recidivism costs over the next five years.
Without a job, an ex-offender is likely to re-enter the system. Finding work breaks that cycle. Illinois needs major re-entry reforms that remove barriers to employment and work – and give ex-offenders a chance at success.
HB 5973 would remove significant occupational-licensing barriers that make it harder for former offenders to support themselves and their families.
“The gang initiation happened when I was 12 years old. That was my fist experience with drug and alcohol abuse, and from that day until I was 28 I struggled with addiction. “In spite of that struggle I was still the president of my grammar school and my high school, and I started my career...
Letting nonviolent former offenders petition to have their records sealed and protecting businesses from negligent-hiring lawsuits would do more to encourage hiring ex-offenders than “ban the box” alone.
“The reason why I wear the jumpsuit is symbolic. “And it’s stark, but this is the thing: You see me today dressed in this business suit. I can go anywhere downtown. The way I talk, the way I look, I will have no problems. No one’s going to ask me to get on the ground....