Charges Dismissed After Video Contradicts Agent’s Narrative in Arrest Earlier this month, federal prosecutors in Chicago charged three men with trying to rob undercover agents during an A.T.F. gun-trafficking sting in south suburban Country Club Hills. On paper, the...
Chicago Criminal Law Blog
Are Silencers Protected by the Second Amendment?
Two June 2026 Circuit Rulings Create Circuit Split Within two weeks this June, two federal appeals courts upheld convictions for possessing an unregistered silencer under the National Firearms Act, (“NFA”) and reached that same result for opposite reasons. The Ninth...
Supreme Court Issues Opinions with Broad Implications for Criminal Defendants
On June 18, 2026, the Supreme Court handed down two decisions that could have significant implications for certain defendants who are facing charges, serving custodial sentences, or have previously been adjudicated for possessing firearms with a history of drug use or...
Illinois Finally Regulates Delta-8
Illinois Enacts Hemp Regulations After Years of Legislative Failure Delta-8 products are known for their intoxicating effects similar to marijuana. When we last covered Illinois’ efforts to regulate Delta-8 after its widening popularity and ubiquitousness across the...
Are States Trying to Ban Glocks?
What the New Wave of Pistol Design Legislation Means for Illinois Gun Owners and the Second Amendment If you own a “Glock” in Illinois, one of the most popular brands of semi-automatic pistols in the United States, you should be paying close attention to recent...
Can I Use A.I. as My Lawyer?
Frequent Hallucinations Still Common in A.I. Models With the rapid development, hype, and proliferation of artificial intelligence, many non-lawyers may be asking themselves the question of whether or not they even need to hire a lawyer at this point to resolve their...
Do I Qualify for Compassionate Release When the Law Changes?
Supreme Court Rules Sentencing Disparities Cannot Justify Early Release for Pre-First Step Act Prisoners Whenever Congress changes the laws and regulations around what kind of sentences should be handed down in criminal cases, inevitably some of the first questions...
Are There Limits to Facial Recognition Software in Illinois?
Bill Stalls that Would Prohibit Law Enforcement Agencies in Illinois from Using Controversial Technology A proposed bill, the Illinois Biometric Surveillance Act, which would have prohibited law enforcement agencies from using or accessing facial recognition tools,...
More TAKE IT DOWN Act Arrests Signal Escalating Crackdown on A.I. Deepfake Pornography
Last month, we covered the legality of A.I. generated porn and the instances in which one might find themselves in legal trouble should they engage with said materials. This week, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York unsealed two criminal...
Major Changes on the Horizon for ATF and Northern District of Illinois Federal Enforcement/Prosecutions
ATF Proposes Repealing, Replacing, and/or Modifying Key Gun Regulations The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) recently announced the ATF’s rolling back and modifying several ATF agency rules shortly after...


