You often hear about politicians facing public corruption charges in the news. Public corruption refers to any time of instance in which a government official abuses their position of power or public trust for personal gain. Bribery, fraud, misuse of government funds...
In 2016, there were more hate crimes in Chicago than there had been in the previous five years. Instances of anti-Semitic offenses also jumped 85 percent between 2016 and 2017. At the start of this year, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a revision to...
If you’ve been charged with a crime, you may be feeling hopeless at the prospect of spending a certain amount of your future behind bars. However, while the law assigns certain penalties to certain types of crimes, there is still some flexibility for reducing...
Double jeopardy is an important protection to understand. Under the Fifth Amendment, an individual cannot be tried twice for the same crime. This means that if you went to trial and were acquitted, the prosecution can’t try the same case against you again. It...
Attractive people get the advantages in life. Statistically, they tend to land better jobs and earn higher salaries. But a recent study shows that attractive defendants also tend to win the sympathy from jurors more often than their unattractive counterparts.Legal...
If you’re ever detained by the police, it’s worth understanding the concept of reasonable suspicion and what it means to you.What is reasonable suspicion? A police officer may have reasonable suspicion if they believe you are acting suspiciously—in a...
In 2015, U.S. Senator from New Jersey Robert Menendez was charged with 18 counts of corruption, which included allegations of fraud, conspiracy and bribery. Seven of these counts--all bribery offenses--were connected to Mendenez's relationship with his long-time...
You may be under the impression that the sentence a defendant receives in court is based on legal guidelines which attach a certain type of crime to a certain amount of prison time. That’s not entirely true. A mathematical tool is also used to determine...
If you were charged with a criminal offense and found guilty, it’s important to understand that a guilty verdict does not have to be the end of the road for you. Under some circumstances, you may be eligible to appeal the ruling—that is, to convince a...
At the end of the 21st century, California legalized marijuana for medicinal use. Since that time, more and more states have been following suit. To date, 29 states—including Illinois—have legalized marijuana for this purpose, and six of these states also...
