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Illinois Law Offers Second Chances Through Expungement
If you have ever been arrested on the suspicion of a crime, your arrest becomes part of your permanent criminal record, even if you never convicted. Potential employers, financial institutions, and even educational admissions officers could conduct background checks when you apply for a job, loan, or school program. Even just a single arrest in your history could lead to uncomfortable conversations and embarrassing questions long after the incident itself has been all but forgotten. Depending on how your case was resolved, however, your arrest may qualify to be expunged or removed from your permanent record. Thanks to a new law that became effective this year, more individuals than ever before could be eligible to restore lost opportunities by clearing their record.
What Is Expungement?
When an arrest is expunged, it means that all physical and digital records related to that arrest and subsequent prosecution are destroyed, deleted, or otherwise rendered inaccessible. An expunged arrest essentially never happened, and the arrest cannot be seen on background checks conducted for any purpose. Removing an arrest from one’s record can obviously be a tremendous help to that person’s future.
Drone Searches and Illinois Law
New technology is constantly revolutionizing the way that police do their jobs, and that means that the law has to keep up in order to protect people's civil rights. One of the most common places where new technology butts up against people's rights is in the area of searches. The Fourth Amendment provides citizens with protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, but it does not define unreasonable. Over the years, courts have had to deal with wiretaps, heat vision, and GPS trackers, just to name a few pieces of technology.
Now, a new technology is creating another future Fourth Amendment issue: police drones. Police have had access to aerial surveillance for decades, but drones are different. Ordinary aerial surveillance is expensive. It requires helicopters and officers and a good deal of time and money. Drones make those searches much easier and cheaper.
Your Cell Phone Cannot Be Searched Without a Warrant
Several years ago, a California man was pulled over for expired registration tags and, when it was realized the man was driving on a suspended license, his vehicle was impounded. When law enforcement officers conducted an inventory search of the car, they found illegal firearms, and the man was arrested on weapons charges. Incident to the arrest, officers accessed the man’s smartphone and as a result of pictures found on the phone, charged the man with additional crimes, including in connection with a shooting from a few weeks prior. The photos were admitted as evidence during the man’s trial and he was convicted.
SCOTUS Decision
Ultimately, the case, along with a similar one from Massachusetts, found its way to the United States Supreme Court. In a decision sure to have a far-reaching impact on mobile technology and the right to privacy, the high court ruled in favor of the man, agreeing that the evidence against him had been obtained in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.
Illinois Police Mistake Pistachio Shells for Marijuana
An Illinois woman is facing possible felony drug charges after police officers found a bottle of the painkiller tramadol in her coat pocket. The 59-year-old woman does actually have a prescription for the type of pills found by police, but she has been charged with possession of a controlled substance that had been prescribed to one of her relatives. What makes this story unique is the way in which the pills were discovered.
Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
The pills were only discovered after police searched the woman’s car. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects gives citizens the right to be "secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." Usually, police must have a warrant to search a home, but motor vehicles are different. A police office must only have "probable cause" to search a vehicle. Probably cause means that the officers must have reason to believe that evidence of a crime or illegal items will be found in the car. However, there are not clear answers as to what counts as probable cause. Of course, illegal items such as drugs, drug paraphernalia, stolen goods, or weapons in plain sight usually constitute probable cause, but officers do not have to physically see contraband in order to be authorized to search the vehicle. In 1985, the Illinois Supreme Court approved car searches if the police officer claimed to be able to smell marijuana in the car.
Why You Should Not Consent to a Vehicle Search
It can be hard to know exactly what your rights are when it comes to police searches. Under federal law, police may only search homes and vehicles under certain circumstances. If a police officer wishes to search your home, he or she will usually need to acquire a search warrant before entering the property. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles do not always necessitate a search warrant. One way police may legally search a person’s vehicle is if the driver gives them permission to do so. Most legal experts believe that citizens should never give police permission to search their vehicle—even if they have nothing to hide.
When Police May Search Your Car
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizure of personal property. In order to legally search a vehicle, police must have a valid reason, a search warrant, or the driver’s permission. More specifically, police may lawfully search a vehicle only if:
A Police Officer Found Drugs in My Vehicle. Now What?
As per the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, police cannot search a person’s private residence without a search warrant issued by a judge. So, if police believe you have illegal items in your home, that suspicion alone is usually not enough to merit a legal search. However, the laws which protect citizens’ privacy are quite different when it comes to motor vehicles. Because we operate vehicles on public roads, police have much more freedom when it comes to searching a person’s car or truck. If police have searched your vehicle and discovered marijuana, amphetamines, opioids, or other illegal drugs, you may be facing harsh criminal consequences.
When Can Police Legally Search a Vehicle?
Although police have more authority to search motor vehicles than homes, they are still required to follow certain rules regarding vehicle searches. An officer cannot stop and search a vehicle without a reasonable cause for doing so.
How Does Drug Court Work in Illinois?
Judges, prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers, and lawmakers recognize the problems drug addiction causes in our communities. Many Illinois counties, including DuPage County and Cook County, are turning to drug courts to help addicts, improve neighborhoods, and take pressure off the criminal justice system. Drug courts work inside of the normal criminal court system, but give defendants the chances to avoid going to jail, and sometimes even a criminal conviction. It also provides the tools to help the defendant overcome addiction.
Who is Eligible for Drug Court?
Drug court is for non-violent defendants charged with certain drug offenses. Each county has a different set of rules about who is eligible for drug court and most courts require a defendant to apply for the program. During the application process, the case criminal case is still active, but the proceedings are postponed. A certified professional will evaluate a defendant during the application process.
Petition Calls for DEA Chief’s Resignation Over Medical Marijuana Remarks
The acting head of the federal agency tasked with enforcing the nation’s laws against illicit drug use is under attack after comments he made to reporters last week regarding the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Chuck Rosenberg ignited a major controversy in a briefing that coincided with the release of the 2015 Drug Threat Assessment Summary, which showed an increase in illegal drug use for most substances, with the exception of cocaine. The report also observes that the use of marijuana is still technically illegal under federal law, despite decriminalization and medical marijuana legislation being passed in various states.
No Joking Matter
In his statements, Rosenberg took offense to the idea that marijuana could be medicinal, "because it’s not," he said. "We can have an intellectually honest debate about whether we should legalize something that is bad and dangerous, but don’t call it medicine—that is a joke."
Drug Distribution and Trafficking
Illinois has fairly strict laws about drug possession, distribution, and trafficking. The latter two are decidedly more serious, as one might imagine, but many become confused when dealing with the prosecution process. There are state and federal charges, with varying degrees of severity, and those unfamiliar with the law may have trouble determining which regulations apply to them and which do not.
Classifying Drugs
The Illinois Controlled Substances Act sets forth information on which drugs are classified under which schedule, and grants the state of Illinois the authority to reschedule any drug if it is rescheduled under the corresponding federal law. There are five schedules, with Schedule I including the most dangerous drugs and Schedule V listing the least dangerous.
There are a number of factors that go into federal and state authorities classifying a drug under a certain schedule, including but not limited to the potential for abuse, the degree to which the drug can be used for legitimate medical purposes, and potential long-range effect on individual and public health. This is relevant in terms of assessing distribution and trafficking offenses because public health is a concern. A drug may be is placed on a certain schedule due to widespread fear of abuse or belief in its potential to cause long-term effects, distribution or trafficking of the drug can cause significant harm to public health.
Opioid Crisis May Be Contributing to an Increase in Murders
Recreational use of opioids like heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine has become more popular than ever. These highly addictive drugs are designed to fight extreme pain, but many people either use them recreationally or become addicted and eventually need the drugs to simply feel normal.
It is a vicious cycle. Many of those who become addicted start off using prescribed pain pills but when the prescription runs out, they turn to buying the pills illegally. Others find that pills are not effective or available and turn to heroin for relief. Heroin is especially dangerous because it is often mixed with fentanyl, which is up to 100 times more potent than morphine and many times that of heroin. The combination of easy access to the drugs, the prevalence of fentanyl-laced heroin, and the extremely addictive nature of these substances have dramatically increased the number of people who die from overdose. Of the 64,000 reported drug overdose deaths in 2016, two-thirds were linked to opioids. This represents an increase in drug overdose deaths of over 20 percent since 2015.
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