A Glimpse of Criminal Justice Reform in Illinois

 

law-1063249__180

2016 hasn’t exactly been a poster year for political compromise. Given the differences of opinion between Gov. Rauner and the Democratic Illinois Legislature, you could be forgiven for thinking that any hope of change was a distant one at best. But this week an optimistic story emerged out of the gridlock for advocates of criminal justice reform and bipartisanship.

On Monday, Gov. Rauner signed into law a handful of bills aimed at making significant changes to the criminal justice and prison systems over the course of the next decade. As we wrote yesterday, the most publicized were penalties aimed at reducing gun violence

“I want those who did something wrong to face punishment, but we must make sure that the punishment fits the crime,” Rauner said. “We need to explore new avenues so that we’re balancing punishment with rehabilitation and not needlessly tearing families and lives apart.”

Senate Bill 3164 should help achieve that goal. Among the changes are a requirement for judges to view presentencing reports and explain prison sentences for first time offenders. The changes also target problems identified by inmates and seek to reduce to cost of phone calls and allow certain offenders to work for park districts. Under the rules, juveniles will be better able to expunge arrest records.

These changes also add to other changes enacted this year aimed at how marijuana is treated in Illinois. To get more in line with national trends in drug enforcement, a recent law eliminates criminal penalties for possessing smaller amounts of marijuana. Along this line, DUI’s involving cannabis now require the driver to exceed a minimum threshold of intoxication, like alcohol. Another aspect of the DUI Bill was certain expungement provisions.

Though criminal justice in Chicago is still far from perfect, these are good first steps and it’s encouraging that these reforms can still make it through the legislative process in times of such political gridlock.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.