Across the country, juvenile offenders are being released from prison based on recognition they are not as mature as adults. In Illinois, many who commit crimes as teenagers are still likely destined to die in custody.
The sponsor of an Illinois House of Representatives bill that would have drastically cut public access to police records—including in cases of officer misconduct—killed the bill Thursday after searing opposition from civil rights and open government advocates, including the ACLU and the state attorney general’s office. The bill was prompted by a request from the city of Chicago Heights.
The Illinois House of Representatives is considering a bill that would give young offenders the opportunity for parole. Despite earlier hopes of advocates, the bill would give the decision to the Prisoner Review Board, an agency whose decisions, an Injustice Watch review found, are often inconsistent and arbitrary.