Congratulations and Happy Thanksgiving to those receiving their pardons! I'm sure that you will have plenty to be thankful for. For those denied or still pending, enjoy your holiday as well and don't give up hope because your time may still come.
Today, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner released his fifth batch of decisions on executive clemency petitions. The Governor will typically issue clemency decisions ahead of major holidays, with this Thanksgiving being no exception. This batch consists of 210 decisions, with 10 of them being granted. According to Governor Rauner's Office, there are still roughly 1,200 petitions pending in the backlog now. Most of the backlog built up under former Governor Blagojevich.
Congratulations and Happy Thanksgiving to those receiving their pardons! I'm sure that you will have plenty to be thankful for. For those denied or still pending, enjoy your holiday as well and don't give up hope because your time may still come.
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President Barack Obama recently issued an executive order requiring federal agencies to "delay inquiries into criminal history until later in the hiring process." The "Ban the Box" order does away with the question on federal job applications asking if the applicant has been convicted of a felony. Many employers use this question as one of the initial filters to sift through applications. As a result, many talented applicants are dropped because of a blemish on their criminal record, no matter how old.
By banning the box, those individuals would at least have the chance to get their foot in the door. Background checks would still be performed on the candidates, but not until after they have already made an impression on those hiring. In Rex Huppke's column in the Chicago Tribune, he does a great job laying out why banning the box is good, but more is needed. By taking more pro-active steps to help rehabilitated people get employment, we can reduce recidivism and get talented people into positions which need them. Society is helped twice over. Illinois lawmakers have recognized this fact, and have begun implementing some steps. President Obama's executive order will hopefully serve to extend this understanding to the national stage. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner released 170 executive clemency decisions on this Friday before Labor Day weekend. He granted seven petitions and denied 163. This is Governor Rauner's fourth set of petitions since taking office. According to the Governor's office, nearly 1,500 petitions remain in the backlog built up under previous administrations.
As always, congratulations to those that were granted clemency! For those that were denied or are still pending, don't give up hope! Your chance may still come. A change in the Illinois law governing criminal record sealing was made this week which will allow a person to bypass the waiting period to seal if he or she furthers their education. The bill passed both houses in May and was signed into law by Governor Rauner on Monday. It will take effect on January 1, 2016.
Previously, anyone convicted of an offense had to wait four years from the termination of their last sentence to seal the case (if it is an eligible offense). Under the new law, the defendant may petition to seal the records as soon as the sentence terminates if he or she obtained a new diploma, degree, certification, or GED during the time of their sentence, aftercare release, or mandatory supervised release. If the sealing petition is denied by the court, then the normal waiting periods apply for refiling in the future. This is a good change as it will help those with a conviction more easily avoid the stigma of having a criminal record. The purpose of the waiting period is to allow enough time for the defendant to establish their rehabilitation. Clearly, someone who furthers their education is taking the steps to become a more productive member of society. I often encounter clients who are wary of completing their education program because of their criminal record. Why rack up more loans/tuition fees when it is unlikely that you will be hired in your field of study after a background check? Now, those people will be incentivized to further their education, which not only helps the individuals but also the economy of Illinois as well. Just as the Governor has the power to grant executive clemency for individuals convicted at the state level, the President can offer clemency to those convicted at the federal level. Today, President Obama exercised that power by commuting the sentences of 46 federal prisoners. The individuals receiving the commutations were non-violent drug offenders sentenced under the old and absurdly harsh drug laws. According to video released by the President, nearly all of those receiving clemency would have completed their sentences already, had they been convicted under today's laws.
Last year, President Obama announced an initiative to offer clemency to the non-violent drug offenders convicted under the old laws. With today's batch, Obama has now commuted the sentences for 89 prisoners, the vast majority of whom applied under that initiative. Commutation of sentence is a form of executive clemency which reduces or terminates a sentence that an individual is currently serving. This differs from a pardon, which is granted after the sentence is completed and serves as forgiveness from the state or country. This afternoon, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner released a batch of clemency decisions ahead of the Fourth of July weekend. This is Rauner's third set of clemency decisions since taking office, having released some in April and May. Today's grouping includes 158 petitions, five granted and 153 denied.
Congratulations to those that received their pardons today! Hopefully you will be joined by more in the future. The Illinois legislature recently passed a bill that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis. If Governor Rauner signs the bill, the new law would make the possession of less than 15 grams of cannabis a civil violation, punishable by a fine no more than $125. Currently, possession of small amounts of cannabis is subject to arrest for criminal misdemeanor charges which can result in hundreds or thousands of dollars in fines and costs, and potentially even jail time.
This step toward decriminalization is not new in Illinois. Many local municipalities, including Chicago, already have directives in place for their police departments to issue tickets for small cannabis possession, rather than arresting the offender. However, those ordinance violations, despite intending to “decriminalize,” still do in fact create criminal records for the defendants. Not only are the ordinance violations visible to the public just like any other criminal charge, but a conviction for it can undermine a person’s eligibility to expunge another case, even if that other case would otherwise be eligible to expunge. Where this bill is truly different though is that it proposes to also change the Criminal Identification Act, which establishes the laws for expunging and sealing criminal records in Illinois. If it becomes law, the bill would make courts and police agencies expunge the tickets from their records automatically every six months. This is a major shift in treatment for these types of cases. No other adult records in Illinois (criminal cases or ordinance violations) automatically expunge. Even if you are arrested by mistake and released right away, you must still petition the court to expunge the case from the police records. By automatically expunging the records, the Illinois legislature is essentially saying that they are not concerned with repeated cannabis violators. In fact, the idea may be to account for them as a tax on cannabis use over its prohibition. Regardless, this bill would certainly lead to fewer criminal records for people doing something that is quickly trending toward acceptable in Illinois and the United States. On this Friday before Memorial Day, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner decided on 151 executive clemency petitions, granting seven and denying 144. This is now Rauner's second batch of decisions, after he released his first in April.
The Governor's office has stated multiple times that they have developed a process to review petitions on a regular basis. Releasing a set of decisions in consecutive months is a good indicator that this process will result in more frequent batches of decisions. That will certainly help to finally rid Illinois of the backlog of clemency petitions that have plagued the state since the Blagojevich era. However, the praise for the Governor must be muted when one considers the disappointingly low rate that petitions have been granted thus far. Rauner needs to show better compassion for the people of Illinois working hard to move on from a mistake made long ago. Pardons and expungements are there to help those who have proven rehabilitated and are ready to move on with their lives unencumbered by the yoke of a criminal record. How much talent are we wasting by forcing people to wear the scarlet letter of "convicted felon" their entire lives? Congratulations to those granted a pardon today! I hope and expect to see more join you on subsequent batches of decisions. Today, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner released 59 executive clemency decisions, granting two of them. This marks the first batch of clemency decisions under Rauner, who took office in January.
According to the WNIJ news article, the Governor’s Office says it has developed a process to review clemency petitions on a regular basis. This is good news as it means that we won't have to wait extended periods of time between releases. Hopefully in the coming batches, we will see more pardons granted. In Governor Quinn's last day in office, he released his final batch of decisions on clemency petitions. The final batch contains 43 granted and 119 denied. Quinn's total numbers for his time as governor are 4,928 clemency decisions, with 1,795 granted and 3,133 denied.
That is tremendous work for Quinn's six years in Springfield. The Bryant Chavez Law Office would like to extend its gratitude to Quinn for taking his pardon power seriously and showing the mercy and compassion that is fit for the Chief Executive of Illinois. Thank you! Congratulations to the 43 that were able to get their petitions granted today! I am sure the pardons are befitting the years of hard work and rehabilitation you have put into improving your lives. For the rest that are still pending, good luck and may we see Governor Rauner live up to the standard set by his predecessor! |
We provide criminal defense legal services in Illinois, focusing on the expungement and sealing of criminal records.
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