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

Chicago’s hidden housing solution: How additional dwelling unit expansion can make city more affordable

Chicago’s 2020 Additional Dwelling Unit Ordinance, while well-intentioned, has stifled development. Despite 71% of Chicagoans being in favor of putting additional dwelling units on existing residential lots – higher than the national average – restrictive and inequitable regulations have ensured very few are built.1 Only 44% of pre-approved applications have received building permits since the...

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Chicago’s hidden housing solution: How additional dwelling unit expansion can make city more affordable

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Elizabeth Nachtwey

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

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