Recent Blog Posts
How Have Marijuana Laws Changed in Illinois as of January 1, 2020?
A lot changed in Illinois at the start of this year regarding how marijuana can be purchased and consumed, but there are still some restrictions to follow. Understanding these laws is important to safely use marijuana and avoid violations. If you or a loved one are charged with violating any of these laws, build a sturdy defense with an experienced criminal defense lawyer.
Illinois Marijuana Laws
Technically, adult use of recreational marijuana was legalized on January 1, 2020, in Illinois. This only applies to marijuana purchased from licensed dispensaries, and the private purchase and sale of cannabis remain illegal.
Just like alcohol, you must be 21 or over to purchase marijuana. Before this fullscale legalization, medical marijuana was available to those with a medical marijuana card. Those are no longer required to purchase cannabis, but anyone with such cards is subject to discounts and priority access to retailers’ stocks.
Does a Restraining Order Affect Visitation in Illinois?
Regardless of the exact circumstances, child custody gets especially complicated if there are allegations of domestic abuse against you. If you are wondering if you will be able to visit your children after a former partner or spouse has filed a restraining order against you, the short answer is yes, but each case can play out much differently. To protect your rights in determining child custody and visitation, work with an accomplished domestic abuse attorney to put your best case forward in court.
How Visitation Rules Change in a Domestic Violence Case
As in any divorce case, the court will consider many baseline factors when determining child visitation and custody. This includes the parents’ wishes, the child’s wishes, the child’s other familial relationships, the child’s relationship with his or her community, the parents’ and the child’s physical and mental health, and how much either parent wants to encourage their child to deepen their relationship with the other parent. However, whether either parent is a sex offender or if there are accusations of domestic violence against one of the parents, the case takes a much different shape.
How Is Stalking Punished in Illinois?
Domestic abuse comes in many forms. Mostly, it is physically harming another member of the household. However, the act of stalking a person can be considered domestic violence especially if the victim has an order of protection against the stalker.
Stalking is a form of intimidation and the goal of a stalker is to make their victim feel uneasy whenever they leave their home. In today’s technological world, stalking has also jumped to social media which can be just as harmful to the victim. This is why stalking is a felony offense that comes with jail time and fines as punishment for the crime.
What Is Stalking?
A person commits a stalking crime in a variety of ways. Most people think that simply following someone is the only form of stalking, but Illinois law also defines stalking as:
- Conduct which makes a specific target fear for their safety or the safety of someone they care about
What Happens When You Drive Without Insurance in Illinois?
The state of Illinois requires all car owners to purchase an insurance policy for any car being operated. Failure to produce active insurance while driving will result in a traffic violation including heavy fines and suspension of a vehicle’s registration.
What Are the Illinois Insurance Requirements?
Illinois requires drivers to purchase a specific type of liability insurance for any automobile that is operated in the state. This insurance protects the driver if an accident occurs. The driver will not have to pay for damage repair to the other vehicle, however insurance prices will increase with every accident.
Insurance is required so anyone injured or involved in a collision can rest easy knowing they will not have to pay heavy compensation; that will be the responsibility of the at-fault driver’s insurance.
Illinois requires drivers to purchase insurance that will cover a minimum of:
- $25,000 for injury or death of one person in an accident
What to Expect During an Illinois DUI Traffic Stop
During this time in Illinois, there are fewer cars on the road and with bars closed, there is less of a possibility to find a drunk driver. However, people have not completely stopped leaving their homes and since there are fewer cars out, it will be easier for police to spot a driver under the influence.
While patrolling the streets, police officers look for signs of intoxication such as braking hard or fast, swerving between lanes, disobeying traffic laws, running red lights, etc. Any of these signs will warrant a traffic stop so that the officer can determine if the driver is in fact drunk.
What Happens When a Car Is Stopped?
Illinois police officers have the right and responsibility to pull over any vehicle they suspect to be operated by a drunk driver. Once the stop has been made, the officer will approach the suspected vehicle and observe the state of the driver.
If the officer sees any signs of drunkenness, they can then perform a field sobriety test. Signs an officer will look for include:
What Crimes Can Be Expunged in Illinois?
Expungement is when Illinois government erases criminal charges from a person’s record. This is different from sealing which is when the charges are simply hidden from public view but still exist.
Not all crimes are qualified to be expunged and not every person has the ability to petition for an expungement. It boils down to the type of crime as well as the number of charges already against the person petitioning to expunge a crime.
Understanding the Expungement Process
The first step in getting a charge erased from a personal record is to determine whether or not the charge is qualified to be expunged. Also, a person must find out if they are a candidate that is able to petition for an expungement.
Factors that could keep a person from expungement include the amount of time that has passed since the crime was committed as well as the person’s citizenship status.
Once it is decided that a crime is eligible for expungement, the petitioner should:
How is Fleeing the Scene of a Car Accident Punished in Illinois?
Being involved in a car accident can be a scary thing especially if you are the one who caused the collision. However, it is important that all persons involved in the crash remain at the scene so that police can arrive and take statements as to what happened. Fleeing the scene of a car accident is a crime in Illinois which can lead to fines and/or jail time. If the offending driver was under the influence at the time of the collision, they will also be charged with a DUI and can have their driving privileges suspended.
What Does the Law Require?
Illinois law says that all drivers involved in a crash must:
- Stop their vehicle immediately
- Check the other drivers and passengers for injuries
- Move their vehicle - if it can move - to the side of the road
- Turn on hazard lights so other cars can avoid the stopped cars
- Call the police to report the collision
Is Kidnapping Considered Domestic Violence?
Abuse or domestic violence can come in all varieties. An alleged abuser can physically harm their victim or they can cause mental harm by verbal abuse or manipulation. Whichever form it comes in, domestic violence is a serious crime that can change the dynamic of a household.
Kidnapping is a felony offense and while it may not be directly considered domestic violence, in Illinois it is a way that an alleged abuser can violate an order of protection. This will bring about further consequences to the kidnapper.
What is an Order of Protection?
Most cases of domestic violence are when the woman in the relationship is the victim to the man. Some other cases see children as the victims to either parent. For each case, though, victims of domestic violence can elect to put an order of protection in place.
They do this by:
Is Forgery Punished as Harshly as Identity Theft?
Illinois has two separate laws covering forgery and identity theft, however, they are both deceptive practices that are taken seriously due to the harm it causes a victim. Forgery is a crime that could lead to identity theft because it starts with using someone else’s signature to steal money, goods, or personal information. Both crimes are felony offenses, but for identity theft, punishments become more severe depending on the harm done to a victim.
What Is the Difference?
Illinois law says that someone commits forgery when they do any of the following with the intent to defraud a victim:
- Make or alter a document that has false information
- Deliver false documents with the knowledge that the information is false
- Possession with intent to deliver false documents
- Obtain, possess, or sell another person’s personal information unlawfully
What Is Aggravated DUI in Illinois?
There is a more severe DUI penalty in Illinois known as aggravated DUI that can be issued as a result of the nature of the offense. A driver can also be charged with aggravated DUI if they have three or more DUI violations on their driving record.
All charges of aggravated DUI are tried as felony offenses with mandatory jail time, community service, and heavy fines as punishment.
When Is Aggravated DUI Charged?
It is considered excessive if a person drives their vehicle under the influence three or more times. Therefore, charges are boosted to aggravated DUI felonies for just even being pulled over and arrested.
However, there are other aspects that can turn a DUI charge into an aggravated DUI offense:
- DUI is committed while driving a school bus with minors (under 18 years old) present
- DUI results in great bodily harm or disfigurement to another person
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