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When people defend themselves against deadly attacks by killing their abusers, it’s relatively easy to sympathize. It’s more complicated when the victim is not a violent husband, but is instead an innocent third party. And it’s even more difficult when the offense involves young victims or especially gruesome murders — the kinds of crimes that make some people so afraid and furious that they want to make sure anyone even remotely involved is punished.
While every state has some version of an accomplice liability law, states vary as to what degree of participation is necessary for someone to be prosecuted. And accomplice liability laws aren’t the only ones that allow people to be punished for supporting or failing to stop another person’s crime.In many states, felony murder laws allow someone to be punished for a murder they didn’t commit if they were engaged in a dangerous felony with the person who actually did the killing. Prosecutors can charge someone with conspiracy for agreeing to assist with a crime and taking action to help. Failure-to-protect laws in some states allow a parent (in practice almost always a mother) to be punished for abuse committed by another person if the courts believe she should have prevented the crime. […]
At an Illinois legislative hearing last year on a proposal to limit the theory of accountability, a lawmaker argued that these kinds of laws hurt victims of domestic violence. But Democratic state Rep. Dave Vella pushed back. “You’re accountable for the people you do nasty things with,” he said. “And if something bad happens, you should be accountable for the bad act.” The proposed legislation, which would have narrowed the theory of accountability in Illinois, went nowhere, but activists say they are continuing to push for changes.
In addition to honoring men for Father’s Day, and Juneteenth, Representative Danny Davis (D-7th) will be honoring “Child’s Day” by bringing a busload of youth and their families to the Sheridan Correctional Center where they will be united with their incarcerated dads on Saturday, June 22.
“We take children to the Illinois Department of Corrections facilities, this year to Sheridan, to see and interact with their fathers who are incarcerated,” Davis told the Chicago Crusader Monday, June 10.
“That has turned out to be a very effective activity. We have fathers who cry, do things that are unusual for some men who cry and sob when they see their children. Sometimes we’ve had fathers who have never seen their children because when their children were born, they were incarcerated.”
He recalled one time when he had taken a busload to one of the prisons and one inmate was so disappointed. “He came over to me and said, “I guess my family didn’t get the right information or they missed the bus. They are not here.”
Davis said a little boy sitting at the next table heard him and spoke up saying, “Daddy, I’m here.” Davis said the father had not seen his son in six years and didn’t recognize him. “They held hands the rest of the day. We’ve had some wonderful experiences.”
* SJ-R | Everything you need to know about the Real ID ahead of 2025 deadline: “I strongly encourage residents who intend to fly to get their REAL ID as soon as possible to avoid future headaches,” Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said in a news release. “Our DMV facilities stand ready to help customers get their new driver’s licenses and identification cards before the federal deadline.” In charge of administering the licenses in the state is the Illinois secretary of state’s office, who said only 23.5% of Illinoisans had the license as of May.
* Sun-Times | Bally’s won’t open permanent casino in River West by 2026, gaming expert says — and may not build it at all: Alan Woinski is the CEO of Gaming USA Corp. and editor of the Gaming Industry Daily Report. He has watched Detroit and New Orleans struggle to complete their ambitious casino projects. And in Chicago, he said he believes the financial hurdles now confronting Bally’s — including an $800 million construction funding gap and a buyout offer from its largest shareholder that’s roughly half of what it was two years ago — are infinitely worse.
* BGA | Deferred Ethics Bill Continues Alarming Pattern: Ordinance proposed by the Chicago Board of Ethics and introduced by City Council ethics committee chair Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward) got the slowroll treatment today, with Alds. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward) and Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward) using a parliamentary procedure to defer the legislation until the next council meeting. The ordinance, which would codify enforcement powers for an existing ban on lobbyist contributions to incumbent mayors and expand the prohibition to non-incumbent candidates, passed out of the ethics committee last week over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s opposition, with Ald. Taliaferro the lone “nay” vote.
* WTTW | Johnson Defends Decision to Begin Evicting Migrant Families With Children From City Shelters: Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday defended his decision to begin evicting migrant families with school-age children from city shelters, even as more than half of adults had nowhere else to go when they were asked to leave. […] Everyone living in a city shelter will “receive case management and wraparound services to help them on their journey to independence,” according to Brandie Knazze, commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services. She added that meetings about migrants’ plans to leave shelters must take place 45 days before they are asked to leave, and then again 21 days before their eviction date. Eviction notices are delivered 10 days before people will be asked to leave and then again three days before the eviction date.
* Block Club | Harold’s Chicken On 47th Street Shut Down By The State: Customers of a popular Harold’s Chicken restaurant in Bronzeville were greeted with a “Closed” sign this week after the state shut it down for “noncompliance.” The Harold’s at 503 E. 47th Street opened in November 2022. Details regarding its closure are unclear due to “taxpayer confidentiality provisions in the tax laws,” Illinois Department of Revenue spokesperson Maura Kownacki said. “In general, to be open and operate legally, the business must be in full compliance, or have a department approved payment plan,” Kownacki said.
* WBEZ | What’s the lifespan of a book at the Chicago Public Library?: After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Queen Victoria of Great Britain donated 8,000 books that would become the foundation of the Chicago Public Library collection. While none of those original books are currently in circulation, at least one title from around that time can still be checked out today.
* Chicago Eater | Calumet Fisheries Reopens and Once More Proves it’s an America’s Classic:Calumet Fisheries is back and better than before with fans lining up around the corner for the smoked and fried seafood they’ve been missing for the last six months. The seafood shack has been closed since a November electrical fire. The restaurant re-opened at 9 a.m. sharp on Saturday, June 8. The timing was fitting as the James Beard Awards took place on Monday, June 10. In 2010, the Beard Foundation recognized Calumet Fisheries as an America’s Classic, an honor for timeless restaurants that have carved out a niche for excellence in a community.
* Daily Herald | Operation Dropbox nets 8,000 pounds of supplies for veterans in McHenry County: Operation Dropbox, now in its fifth year, helps veterans in need in McHenry County. Officials said last year’s donations totaled about 5,400 pounds, and the number of drop-off sites tripled from 31 last year to 87, McHenry County Department of Health community information coordinator Nick Kubiak said. Veterans Path to Hope, a nonprofit that runs a shelter in Hebron, was the primary beneficiary of the donations.
* Daily Herald | Despite opposition, gas station plan moves forward in Wheeling: After hours of discussion that included comments from critics, Wheeling’s plan commission on Wednesday night voted to recommend approval of plans for a gas station and other businesses on the village’s west side. But support for the proposed Gas N Wash operation on the northeast corner of Hintz and Old Buffalo Grove roads wasn’t unanimous. Two of the commission’s seven members — Steven Kasper and Rick Hyken — voted against three separate aspects of the proposal. Kasper cast the lone “no” vote on a fourth element of the plan.
* WCIA | Champaign school board president signals to censure member: One of Baker’s main reasons in calling for a censure is her refusal to cooperate with filling the vacancies on the board. Holder said at that time the board was too decisive and the vacancies should be handled by the Regional Superintendent of Education and purposefully did not attend board meetings so quorum could not be met. “One of the board’s duties is to fill vacancies that occur on the board,” Baker said in a prepared statement. “Holder refused to participate in much of the process and refused to attend meetings, where the board was to interview and ultimately select board members. This is a dereliction of duties.”
* WSIL | Carbondale receives funding from Department of Energy for clean energy investment: Carbondale will participate in the DOE’s Communities Local Energy Action Program (Communities LEAP). The program will give $18 million to 30 underrepresented communities across the nation to focus on clean energy and economic development. Most of these communities also have a tie to fossil fuel industries. “We are living in a moment of unprecedented potential that will require systems-thinking, strategic partnership, and a willingness to be seen trying,” said Carbondale’s Planner & Sustainability Coordinator Lauren Becker. “If you are an innovator, communicator, teacher, artist, you are needed and you are needed now. We are entering an age of collaboration like we’ve never seen before.”
* NYT | This Top Democrat Is Leading His Party’s Attack on Trump as a Felon: “I can’t mince words when it comes to talking about who Donald Trump is,” Mr. Pritzker said in an interview on Wednesday. “It’s important, I think, for people to really refocus on the idea that: Do they really want a president who is a felon who faces jail time?” Mr. Pritzker’s aggressive approach comes with a warning for his fellow Democrats. In a fiery keynote speech last weekend at the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s convention in Milwaukee, he compared the party to the proverbial frog that does not realize the pot of slowly boiling water it sits in will soon be deadly.
posted by Isabel Miller
Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 2:21 pm
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It would be funny to get in a betting pool as to whether the permanent Bally casino is ever built.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 4:15 pm
I thought the city already bet their pensions on the casino
I should have gotten a job predicting return in investments and future earnings for the government obviously you don’t have to even come close.
Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 4:44 pm
==I should have gotten a job predicting return in investments and future earnings for the government==
What “investment” did the government make to calculate a return on?
Comment by supplied_demand Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 5:33 pm
I predict The casino gets scaled down. Looks like the new O’Hare project.. I think another casino operator will step in and build something decent but nowhere near what was agreed on. Neil bluhm will take it over but it will never produce the promised taxes.. just my prediction
Comment by Regular democrat Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 6:11 pm
@ Supply. I was being general. It seems that every government projection as to future income for like returns or whatever and believe me I am no economist comes way short of what is either projected or promised. Sorta like car sales in old days we bought too many now we have to discount and those guys buying for dealers never got fired or went into government work as an economist
Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 6:31 pm
YAY Carbondale, better known to we Salukis as the center of the universe.
Comment by Northern Light Thursday, Jun 13, 24 @ 8:21 pm