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Kudos and barbs

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* Passage came after a very long, very difficult negotiating process. Kudos to the sponsor for working with the other side of the aisle. And kudos to prosecutors for working cooperatively with the sponsor to get something done…

A measure guaranteeing that juveniles under the age of 15 have a lawyer during interrogations in murder investigations is heading to the Illinois House.

The Illinois Senate overwhelmingly approved an amended version of a plan by Democratic Sen. Patricia Van Pelt on Thursday. Van Pelt initially proposed a measure guaranteeing legal representation to juveniles under 18 in murder investigations. Illinois law already requires legal aid to children under 13 during these interrogations.

Van Pelt says children often falsely confess to crimes because they don’t understand the process.

She said the proposal would also require videotaping such interrogations and simplifying language describing to juveniles their rights.

* Meanwhile, as I’ve said before the Department of Corrections too often looks at ideas in tiny silos instead of backing up and looking at the big picture. IDOC opposed this bill instead of working something out, probably over money…

A bill aimed at lowering the cost of phone calls for people incarcerated in Illinois and prohibiting the state from profiting on such calls cleared the Illinois House on Wednesday.

The measure, HB 6200, is sponsored by Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana. It passed the House, 69-44. […]

Under the legislation, prison phone calls could only cost a maximum of 5 cents per minute (and 23 cents per minute for international calls), a rate that is almost 80 percent less than is currently being paid for the same calls. Illinois receives about $12 million each year from prison phone revenues, the highest in the country, Ammons said.

“This bill will put children in connection with their families by lowering the cost of prison phone calls,” she said.

Maybe you don’t care that prisoners are getting ripped off by the state, but it’s not cool.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:15 pm

Comments

–A measure guaranteeing that juveniles under the age of 15 have a lawyer during interrogations in murder investigations is heading to the Illinois House.–

I had no idea that it was possible for a child to be interrogated in a murder investigation and not have a lawyer. That’s out of Dickens.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:27 pm
Good bills. I’m with Rich, the state shouldn’t have a small profit center on the backs of prisoners and their families. Cover the costs? Yes. Profit center? No.

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:56 pm
All juveniles under the age of 16 should have a lawyer during interrogations no matter what crime was committed.

Comment by Mama Friday, May 6, 16 @ 12:59 pm
Does anyone know where the phone call money ($12M)goes?

Comment by Mama Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:02 pm
The State is ripping people off, & that needs to stop.

Comment by Mama Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:05 pm
DOC uses it for salaries for the storekeepers who run commissaries, which isn’t related in any way to the phone services. CMS also receives a chunk of it for ??? (Other than it assists DOC in preparing the bud).

Comment by Thinking Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:11 pm
im not sure i have a problem with this. Cost to house an inmaye is 27k a year, plus they get dirt cheap commissary items, less then the public can buy items for. If we give them a combined benefit of 30k or more a year, and they pay us back 1k…. then you have the wrong party being ripped off.

Comment by Ghost Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:25 pm
@ Mama - Exactly.

Right now, there are so-called “juvenile officers” who are supposedly there to look after the kid’s interests. Which is a joke. They’re cops. Those are their colleagues doing the interrogations. If anyone thinks that the “juvenile officers” actually look after the kid’s rights, well, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.

Comment by JoanP Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:44 pm
People don’t care because they assume it won’t happen to anyone they know. They think it only happens to “bad” people, but next time it could be someone you love.

Comment by NoGifts Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:46 pm
==we give them a combined benefit of 30k or more a year==

What a card!

Comment by crazybleedingheart Friday, May 6, 16 @ 1:55 pm