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It’s just a bill

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Illinois

* I’ve been following this bill and bills like it with subscribers for weeks. I’ve discovered that the topic is one of the better ways of explaining this year’s session, with one more observation to come tomorrow…

Legislation designed to close a revolving door through which carjacking suspects often return to the street within 24 hours of their arrests passed the Illinois Senate on Wednesday.

The bill, approved by a vote of 56-0, must pass the House before the governor can decide whether to sign it. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing for the bill.

In February, the Sun-Times reported that dozens of juveniles were charged in Chicago with pointing guns at motorists and stealing their cars, but few were detained longer than a day.

Some went on to commit other crimes — including carjackings — after they were released on electronic monitoring, records show. […]

The bill would put the burden on juvenile advocates to prove their clients should be freed until their cases are resolved. If the judge decides to detain a juvenile on allegations of carjacking, the suspect would have to undergo a psychological evaluation.

* Other bills…

* Editorial: A stand against public-paid golden parachutes: A report by the Better Government Association tallied 11 examples since 2009 of six-figure severance packages. Together, they cost taxpayers more than $5.2 million. Two bills before the Illinois General Assembly would curtail such practices. Senate Bill 3604, introduced by state Sen. Tom Cullerton of Villa Park, would cap severance payouts to equal 20 weeks of pay. It would eliminate severance pay for public employees fired for misconduct. It passed the Senate on Wednesday and moves to the House.

* Illinois Senate votes to teach LGBT history in school: The Senate voted 34-18 Wednesday on the plan by Chicago Democratic Sen. Heather Steans. It would require schools to teach a history unit on the role in society and contributions of gays, lesbians and other LGBT individuals.

* Op-Ed: Why Huck Finn could stop smart consolidation effort: The legislation, filed by state Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, would allow two or more local school boards to agree to share the costs of a single superintendent, or allow voters in multiple school districts to force superintendent consolidation, according to a recent story from Illinois News Network’s Benjamin Yount. To force a shared superintendent, 51 percent of voters in each school district would have to agree to do so at the ballot box.

* Illinois Senate approves plan that would allow police to monitor large crowds with drones: Another measure that cleared the Senate would prevent the state from suspending someone’s professional license for falling behind on student loan payments. Supporters including Attorney General Lisa Madigan say it doesn’t make sense to limit someone’s ability to earn a living while also asking them to pay off debt. Current law allows for someone’s professional license to be suspended or revoked for falling behind on loan payments for dozens of professions, including teachers, engineers, veterans and therapists.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 1:22 pm

Comments

I really really don’t like the drone bill. It scares the crap out of me that if I go to a labor protest in Chicago that a drone with face recognition software is going to tag me and ID me.
I know we’re moving to corpora-fascism and all but come on. Let’s not go total 1984.
I really don’t want to see the Homen black ops site fist hand.

Comment by Honeybear Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 1:46 pm
This bill has to fail. The voters picked the Cook County State’s Attorney and judges, and legislation shouldn’t be used to create an end-run around voters’ poor choices.

Comment by Chris Widger Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 1:47 pm
==Homen black ops site fist hand.==

There’s no Homan Square blacksite, and claiming there is one is a great tell for not knowing anything about Chicago or the CPD. The Guardian literally just made it up.

Comment by Chris Widger Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 1:48 pm
How does sharing a superintendent actually improve education or cut significant costs, especially when you get downstate where the pay isn’t as high as it is in the suburbs?

How do advocates for that bill intend to get over the same hurdles that prevent other consolidation ballot measures from passing?

Comment by Nuke the Whales Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 1:59 pm
===In February, the Sun-Times reported that dozens of juveniles were charged in Chicago with pointing guns at motorists and stealing their cars, but few were detained longer than a day.

Some went on to commit other crimes — including carjackings — after they were released on electronic monitoring, records show. […]===

There will be a backlash if legislators continue to pretend these crimes aren’t worthy of serious consequences, even for juveniles. No one wants to saddle a kid with a criminal record unnecessarily, but this is completely out of control and if parents can’t control their children, the state has to get involved in ways that are unpleasant, costly and punitive.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 2:13 pm
Felony gun convictions. Twenty five years. No parole.

Comment by BlueDogDem Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 2:29 pm
The “black site” description might be overblown, but that in no way means that CPD can be trusted to use this technology responsibly. From a technological standpoint, drones are fare more useful for surveillance of demonstrators than preventing mass shootings. I would expect them to be used as such.

Comment by Actual Red Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 2:44 pm
I think if you are already on an electronic moniter and you go out and commit a second carjacking, yes, you need a psychological evaluation. Something is seriously wrong.
Perhaps the Illinois Senate should consider funding more mental illness providers so we don’t have the first carjacking.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 2:54 pm
The carjacking thing is a big deal.

There is so much talk about gun restrictions, but then we when we have people actually charged with violent gun crimes, they are putting the people right back on the streets.

Bail is supposed to do two things. First, it makes sure people are going to return for trial. Second, where it is shown that the nature of the allegations makes it likely the person will be a danger, it protects public safety.

When there are charges of violent crimes with guns, it is tough to understand why judges do not consider the person a threat.

Comment by Gooner Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 3:05 pm
If someone has been successful enough to be recorded in the history books, I seriously doubt being LGBT had anything to do with it. It was because they worked hard to achieve their goals, so why not focus on that fact and encourage our children to do the same?

Comment by Common Sense Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 4:26 pm
The carjackers are violent offenders and should be locked up for a significant amount of time. It is out of control, and it is easy to see why - no ramifications. Heaven forbid an officer should shoot one of these darlings.

Where did we go off the rails so badly?

Comment by SSL Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 4:35 pm
Regarding the comment by Common Sense –

Initially, for a long time, success while LGBT was more of a challenge. There still remains bias against them.

Still, the question is why devote a significant amount of time just focusing on that issue? If the person was known to be LGBT, mention it as needed. In discussions of civil rights, discuss some of the struggles.

But a history unit just on that topic? It doesn’t seem like reasonable use of time, when the students remain challenged to learn some of the basics of history.

Comment by Gooner Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 4:43 pm
===and should be locked up for a significant amount of time===

Gotta catch them first and the cops are pretty bad at that.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 4:46 pm
“Illinois Senate approves plan that would allow police to monitor large crowds with drones”

Define “large crowds?” In practice that will be defined as any “crowd” the police think is “large” and eventually include your backyard or front porch. Imagine how many people police could monitor on the way to record these imaginary “large crowds?”

I’m always surprised how easily the solons in the Statehouse turn into giggling six year old girls when “the police” testify that this or that measure is, “necessary for public safety” then promise never to abuse their new overreaching authorities.

Even the self-styled educated progressives like Dan Biss turn into rubes at the carney show when the police are involved in legislation. I told Dan that he messed up when he passed his drone oversight bill. He asked me how? I said that you left an “exception” in the bill for the use of drones in public emergencies, or some other loophole that cops could drive a truck through. He said that they would still need a warrant. I explained to him that cops lie, the sky is blue, etc.

Now the cops want more. Police feed off control of others, and they never get enough, the legislature should know that by now.

Comment by Payback Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 5:17 pm
===Define “large crowds?”===

Actually, it’s defined in the bill.

Comment by Leslie K Thursday, May 3, 18 @ 6:17 pm