Covid and Aggravated Battery

Although it has been in effect since August, a notable piece of legislation remaining relevant in 2020 is a bill regarding the assault and battery of retail workers who enforce COVID-19 safety guidelines. The legislation made the act a felony by classifying it as aggravated battery, which turns it into a felony with a prison sentence as potentially long as 10 years with an up-to $25,000 fine. A simple battery charge has a much shorter sentence of up to one year of prison and a fine that is several times smaller. #aggravatedbattery, #covidaggravatedbattery,

Criminal Sexual Assult

Effective January 1, 2021, a new law removes the statute of limitations for criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse for all ages, not just minors. Previously, prosecution could only be brought within 10 years of the offense and only if the victim reported it to law enforcement within three years. #statuteoflimitations, #criminalsexualassult, 

Coparenting In Illinois

Under Illinois law, married parents have joint residential and legal custody of a child born of the marriage while they are married. With unmarried parents, the mother has sole legal and residential custody of the child until a finding of paternity is made and the father petitions the court for some form of custody. #coparenting,

Cannabis Expungement

 Illinois govenor announced the forgiveness and expungement of about half a million criminal cannabis cases.  He issued pardons for 9210 low-level cannabis convictions, while Illinois State Police have wiped clean more than 492,000 non-felony cannabis related arrest records.  The expungement process is part of the state law that legalized licensed sales of marijuana starting in 2020.  It is meant to reduce the impact of the war on drugs under which minorities were disproportionately arrested and locked up for cannabis crimes, despite similar reported rates of usage. #expungement,  #expungementcannabis,

Address Confidentiality

Effective January 1, 2021, a program that protects the addresses of domestic violence victims is expanding to include victims of sexual assault and stalking.  The Illinois attorney general's address confidentiality program allows eligible victims to use a substitute address and mail forwarding.  Once an application is approved, state and local governments must use the substitute address when creating new public records or corresponding with the program participant, according to the attorney general's office.#addressconfidentiality,

Missing Person DNA

 Law enforcement agencies will be able to begin collecting DNA samples of a missing person's family members in an effort to create a reference DNA sample, under a new law that takes effect January 1, 2021.  The law adds the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System to the list of laboratories law enforcement can coordinate with when they are trying to find a missing person.  The law does not allow for DNA samples collected in missing person cases from family members to be kept by law enforcement agencies once the missing person is located.#missingpersonDNA,