Illinois needs much more in the way of reforms if state politicians are going to truly fix the state’s broken criminal-justice system.
A new study by The Pew Charitable Trusts shows states that adjusted their felony theft laws have not seen an increase in crime. To save on corrections costs, Illinois should update its theft thresholds, too.
“Families are the hidden victims of incarceration. “Statistics show that children of people who are incarcerated have a higher rate of incarceration later in life. It does affect them … “Of course if someone does something truly terrible they should be locked up. But you and I both know if you look at the pie chart of...
Experts analyze policy recommendations designed to make Illinois’ criminal-justice system fairer and more cost-effective.
“The first time I did heroin I was 16 years old … “Your first time you feel invincible, [like] you can do anything, you’re talkative, a little sleepy, best mood you’ve ever had. Instantly I knew this is probably something I’m going to want to do over and over and over again. “My parents, my...
“I don’t want to give up on people, and I don’t want them to give up on themselves. “Sometimes [ex-offenders] have been given up on so many times: by family, by friends, by teachers, that we’re the first people that don’t give up on them. And if we don’t give up on them and we...
“We have individuals who commit violent crimes that have to be punished. We’ve got people who commit financial crimes that destroy people, we have to prosecute them aggressively. “But someone who is recreationally using drugs, we’ve always criminalized it and now we’ve seen that we’ve been banging our heads against a wall and it doesn’t...
The governor has proposed criminal-justice reforms to save Illinois taxpayers $300 million over the next four years while improving outcomes for offenders and their communities.
“I grew up in Roseland. “We lived in a two-flat with a basement and one bathroom: me and 25 other family members. Drug problems, gang violence, all of that was the reality. “Vocational school was vital for me and I thank God I got a job. It’s a cliché but that totally changed my life....
A proposal to criminalize recording and posting fights would violate the First Amendment rights of Illinois residents
Closing the Illinois Youth Center in Kewanee, with its $84,000 per-youth annual operating cost, will help save money and redirect resources toward more effective treatment programs for juvenile offenders.
Issuing state IDs to ex-offenders upon release from prison is a simple reform that can help them succeed in finding work and a place to live.
New polling shows large majorities of Illinois Republican and Democratic voters think the state’s criminal-justice system needs a major overhaul.
“… After I sold my catering business I was going to meetings with young offenders here in Evanston. At every single meeting I heard kids say they wouldn’t have done what they did if they had a job. And I was sick of hearing that story over and over again without having anywhere to send...