Last year there wasn’t much to cheer about if you were waiting on a clemency decision in Illinois.
In 2023, Gov. Pritzker ruled on 563 petitions – the vast majority of those were filed by people in prison seeking a sentence commutation. Only 44 of those petitions were granted: 29 pardons[1] and 15 sentence commutations for an overall grant rate of 7.8%.
Read MoreEver since the Illinois sealing law was amended in 2017 -- extending relief to those who could not remove their criminal record unless they were pardoned. Petitioners, due to where they were arrested, will face different odds in getting their records expunged or sealed.
Read MoreFCRA - Today, fewer and fewer employers ask job applicants if they have a criminal record (of convictions). Rather, they prefer waiting until a conditional job offer is made to perform a background check. For better or worse, employment-based background checks are here to stay. That’s why it’s vital that you know what your rights are under the FCRA.
Read MoreExecutive Clemency in Illinois - During his first term in office (2019-2022), Gov. Pritzker developed no consistent pattern of grants. His first and last year in office, where few petitions were granted, bore little resemblance to the clemency rulings made during his second and third year (2020-2021) in office – the COVID years.
One can only speculate how Gov. Pritzker would have acted during those years if there hadn’t been a worldwide pandemic. What we can do is wade through his grants and denials to answer this question: Is Gov. Pritzker Pro Clemency?
Read MoreMost of the time, being charged with a local ordinance (versus a criminal law) violation, the incident is not reported to the Illinois State Police (ISP). The ISP is the state agency responsible for maintaining all arrest records for the state. The ISP has the additional responsibility of relaying this information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
That said, there is no guarantee that an ordinance violation has not been reported to the ISP and FBI. Over the years, I’ve come across a handful of instances where such information was sent to the ISP.
Read MoreWhat I always say to people who is not a U.S. citizen and wants to change his or her legal status, expunging or sealing your criminal background will not improve your chances of obtaining citizenship but could complicate matters. Why? Because any contact with law enforcement (arrests or convictions) must be disclosed to immigration authorities.
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