Bill would let wrongly arrested clear their names without paying

01/28/2020

Expungement and sealing fees cause individuals with erroneous criminal records to have a hard time moving forward with their lives.

TAGS: Cook County, crime, criminal justice, decriminalization, expungement, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, JB Pritzker, overcriminalization, records, restore my good name

Leaving child Home Alone could land parents in jail this holiday season

12/19/2019

Illinois’ restrictive and vague laws could mean arrest for parents who leave their kids at home while they run a quick holiday errand.

TAGS: Chicago, Christmas, Corey Widen, criminal justice reform, Illinois House of Representatives, Illinois Senate, lawmakers, Natasha Felix, overcriminalization, police, Wilmette, Winnetka

Chicago ‘tow-and-sell’ operation flips 50K cars, buries drivers in debt

By Vincent Caruso

01/22/2019

Chicago has seized and sold nearly 50,000 impounded vehicles since 2011, hitching drivers to mounting debts, a recent investigation found. The city’s ticketing laws disproportionately harm low-income residents.

TAGS: Chicago, criminal justice reform, overcriminalization, Rahm Emanuel

Home alone: Unattended 13-year-old? Police can arrest the parents in Illinois

By Vincent Caruso, Jeffrey Schwab

12/19/2018

Illinois’ law mandating a minimum age for leaving children home alone is the most restrictive in the nation. That should change.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services, overcriminalization

These Illinois Halloween laws might scare you

By Austin Berg

10/18/2018

Scraping through a few hundred municipal codes in Illinois didn’t turn up any trick-or-treat ordinances allowing for jail time. But fines associated with age limits, curfews, masks and more were aplenty.

TAGS: Belleville, criminal justice reform, Decatur, overcriminalization

State agency investigates Illinois mom for letting 8-year-old walk dog around block

By Vincent Caruso, Jeffrey Schwab

08/23/2018

A Wilmette mother investigated for letting her daughter walk the dog is only the latest target of Illinois’ vague and overreaching child neglect laws.

TAGS: DCFS: Department of Children and Family Services, overcriminalization

Chicago Ald. Ed Burke wants to fine pedestrians up to $500 for ‘distracted walking’

By Vincent Caruso

11/09/2017

The proposal would fine pedestrians $90 for checking their phone at city intersections and $500 for the offense of being distracted.

TAGS: Chicago, Ed Burke, overcriminalization

Sharing a photo of your completed ballot could be a felony in Illinois

By Bryant Jackson-Green

11/07/2016

If you take a photo of your ballot to post on Facebook or Instagram in Illinois, you’re a felon and could get up to three years in prison.

TAGS: election, overcriminalization

Which Illinois county is most likely to lock you up?

By Bryant Jackson-Green

09/23/2016

Research shows Hardin, Macon and Marion Counties lead the state in prison admissions per 10,000 residents.

TAGS: overcriminalization, prison, prison population, sentencing reform

Bill to ban sale of bobcat pelts heads to Illinois Senate

By Amy Korte

04/08/2016

In the midst of the state’s budget, pension and out-migration crises, an Illinois politician has introduced SB 2143 to ban the sale of bobcat pelts, as well as the trapping of these animals.

TAGS: criminal justice reform, overcriminalization

Beyond degrees: Empowering Illinoisans through career-first education

Published June 3, 2025 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The best path to empowerment and success, especially for poor people, is work. Work allows us to prosper while providing dignity, upward mobility, the means to support ourselves and create value for others. It’s how we become thriving members of our community. Central to this process is our education...

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Beyond degrees: Empowering Illinoisans through career-first education

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Allan Luzbetak

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

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