After years of deliberation, negotiation and stagnation, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has crafted a bill that favors rehabilitation over incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. Always conscious of costs, the authors, including Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin,...
We have been discussing the Illinois approach to overturning wrongful convictions. It's important to remember that a conviction is only wrongful if the man or woman did not commit the crime. In Illinois, though, being pardoned is not the same thing as establishing...
We are returning to wrongful convictions and certificates of innocence, picking up where we left off in our Aug. 26 post. It is important to remember that convictions are overturned or set aside for a number of reasons. There may have been procedural errors during the...
More and more, observers and authorities, including President Obama, have acknowledged that America’s “War on Drugs” has been a failure. Millions of people are spending years in prison or otherwise under institutional control for non-violent drug...
Before we even begin talking about the probationary system, consider this amazing fact: according to federal data, only about two-thirds of people who are placed on probation actually complete their probationary term.It's a jarring statistic because many people would...
Illinois is not the only state nor is Chicago the only city that time and again finds itself addressing wrongful convictions. It may be a coincidence that the stories are remarkably similar regardless of where they took place. A crime occurs. The police identify a...
Two recent exonerations in Cook County show just how difficult it can be to clear your name following a wrongful conviction. When we left off in our last post, we were talking about Daniel Andersen's situation.Andersen had been convicted of murder and attempted...
In the movies, on television, in the papers -- wherever we turn it seems that the goal of a wrongfully convicted man or woman is exoneration. The term has come to mean not just that the guilty verdict has been overturned but that this man or woman has been proven...
We are continuing our discussion about a Will County man, Mark L. Lewis, who is charged with killing his sister. According to authorities, in 2011, Lewis beat his sister to death after an argument over money she said was missing from their mother's bank account. In...
The case of a Will County man accused of murder could take a dramatic turn in September. Mark L. Lewis and his defense attorney are claiming using what is often referred to as the insanity defense. In September, the court will decide whether to acquit him or to move...
