Taking a photo of your filled-in ballot is a felony in Illinois

By Austin Berg

09/28/2020

State lawmakers across the country have struggled to square ballot secrecy with the advent of smartphones and social media.

TAGS: ballot, felony, Illinois Election Code, selfie

Plea deal drops felony against former Lake Forest city manager who pushed for Amtrak stop

By Vincent Caruso

02/27/2020

Hiding lobbyist payments led to a felony indictment in October against Lake Forest’s longtime former city manager. His plea bargain drops the felony and could eventually leave his record clean.

TAGS: Amtrak, Bob Kiely, felony, investigation, Lake County, Lake Forest, laundering, lobbying, misconduct

Illinois voters from all political parties favor reducing state prison population

By Bryant Jackson-Green

08/19/2016

A recent Illinois Policy Institute-commissioned poll finds 4 in 5 registered Illinois voters – including overwhelming majorities of Republicans, Independents and Democrats – support reforms to reduce the number of nonviolent offenders in prison.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, felony, prison overcrowding, prison population

It’s now a Class 4 felony to hide public records in Illinois

By Brian Costin

08/30/2014

It’s not all bad news in Illinois. Sometimes our politicians get it right. Illinois lawmakers have made it a Class 4 felony to intentionally hide public records from the public. House Bill 4216, introduced by state Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights, was passed unanimously by both the Illinois House and Senate. It was signed into...

TAGS: felony, prison, public records, transparency

Fixing Illinois pension crisis by amending nation’s most-restrictive pension law is legal, effective

Illinois is home to one of the worst pension crises in the country.1 At 39% funded, according to the nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts, Illinois has the worst pension funding ratio of any state.2 By contrast, neighboring Wisconsin’s pension system is 103% funded.3 In fiscal year 2022, Illinois’ total general funds pension costs, including pension bond...

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Fixing Illinois pension crisis by amending nation’s most-restrictive pension law is legal, effective

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Cathy Stuehmeier

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students