In the wake of the shootings at Northern Illinois University, gun owners have proposed a new concealed carry law in Illinois. Currently Illinois is one of only two states with strict firearms possession laws that don’t permit to allow a private citizen to carry a concealed weapon.

The proposed legislation would require a person to be 21 years of age, and be certified and trained in the safe handling and use of a handgun.

The Illinois House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee deferred a vote on a law that would make using aluminum bats illegal for player under 13 years old.

Aluminum bats are considered dangerous by some, since the ball leaves the bat at a higher speed and can potentially cause injuries if players are hit.  They are frequently used by baseball teams since they are cheaper and last longer.

The proposed law would have imposed a fine of $500 to adults or coaches who knowingly allow use of the bats.

Apparently no one asked why the Illinois legislature has to step in to make it a legal matter, instead of having leagues regulate themselves if they feel they need to for safely reasons.

Under a new program sponsored by the DuPage Circuit Court Clerk’s office, courts in all 102 Illinois Counties will have an opportunity to improve sharing traffic ticket violation data, and increase violator penalties and enforcement.

More police departments across the state of Illinois are issuing and filing traffic ticket, speeding tickets, and other moving violations electronically. With this new shared database, all jurisdictions connected online to the system could have access to current ticket data within a day of issue.

This becomes an important enforcement tool, since when if A Circuit Court Clerk’s office is not aware of all of a violators traffic citations, he might be given a lesser penalty for which he is technically not eligible.

For example, a common traffic ticket disposition under Illinois law is known as Court Supervision. A traffic offender who challenges a ticket and is offered court supervision, or who agrees to a traffic safety course is given a chance for that ticket to be kept off his public record if no other violations occur within a certain time period.

However, a person is only eligible for Court Supervision once per year. But if a Court is not aware of other tickets, it may be offered in cases where the person is ineligible. This new system is designed to stop this from happening.

If you are facing a traffic ticket in Illinois, please contact us for a consultation on your legal options.

There is some significant controversy about the strict limitations on hours of operation for drivers under 18 years of age. 16 and 17 year old drivers, are commonly finding it necessary to rush home to meet the strict driving curfew of 10pm imposed by the Illinois DMV on junior operators under the graduated drivers license system.

The combination of inexperienced drivers, rushing home under stress and threat of license suspension. Experts are asking if it worth the risk of serious traffic accidents.

More info on Illinois Traffic Tickets.

Sheriffs deputies are commended for the most DUI arrests in McHenry county. On the surface, it certainly seems like a positive idea if the officers are simply vigorously and diligently enforcing the law. But it poses a number of interesting questions:

1. Are the arrests of the same quality? Do the people arrested get convicted at the same rates as those by officers who aren’t putting in these kinds of numbers? It it possible that these officers are simply arresting everyone, but maybe their arrests are only convicted at a 25% rate, whereas the overall rate is 75&. Those numbers are completely made up, but it would be interesting to know if many of these arrests are on weak evidence.
2. Are there financial incentives involved? Certainly the fees and fines collected are good for the state. Does the bonus money trickle down to the officers in the form of promotions, additional overtime, or more direct payments?