CLEAR Initiative

Articles

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (January 16, 2009)

Volume: 155 Issue: 11

Rewrite of state Criminal Code awaits guv's signature

By Patrick T. Yeagle
Special to the Law Bulletin

SPRINGFIELD — An overhaul of the Illinois Criminal Code has been sent to the governor's desk by the General Assembly.

Senate Bill 100 proposes hundreds of changes to the state's criminal statutes, attempting to make them more logical, accurate and clear.

''The goal of this legislation is to help judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys have confidence that every factor has been considered when determining the proper sentence for a crime,'' said Robyn Ziegler, press secretary for Attorney General Lisa M. Madigan.

''The bill is designed to make the sentencing provisions in the Code of Corrections easier to follow and implement and, as a result, to reduce the likelihood of a sentence being found improper and overturned on appeal.''

Incoming Senate President John J. Cullerton said the bill clarifies the penalties for crimes by updating the law to include Supreme Court precedents.

''Senate Bill 100 is a realignment of the sentencing provisions of the Code of Corrections,'' he said.

''Most of [the revisions] were non-substantive. They're clarifications incorporating case law interpretations, uniformity in usage,'' Cullerton said. ''There were certain adjustments of penalties, but only based on proportionality, and maybe elimination of some unused crimes.''
Cullerton urged lawyers to use the Illinois General Assembly Web site, ilga.gov, to familiarize themselves with the changes.

First introduced in early 2007, the bill is the result of recommendations from the Criminal Law Edit, Alignment and Reform Initiative, or CLEAR, a quasi-governmental commission meant to ''create a politically viable process to review and reform the entire Illinois Criminal Code,'' according to the organization's Web site. CLEAR first began meeting in 2005, studying the criminal code to find ways to streamline and modernize it.

''I hope it will make criminal sentencing easier to understand and apply,'' said Peter G. Baroni, special advisor to the CLEAR Initiative.

Baroni said the most important aspect of the bill is the simplification it delivers.

''The biggest thing, globally, is the one-stop shopping for some things,'' said Baroni. He explained that the bill would index crimes and their corresponding penalties.

''If you look at the classification of the offense, and then you go to the definition of that class, then you'll know the parameters of that class,'' Baroni said. ''Now you'll have one place to go where you'll get the entire scope of the offense.''

Madigan and Cullerton are commissioners of the CLEAR Initiative, which includes senators, representatives, state's attorneys, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys.

The bill drew no opposition in the General Assembly, originally passing 55-0 in the Senate and 110-0 in the House. It passed Tuesday with the Senate voting 57-0 to concur with what Cullerton characterized as a ''minor technical amendment'' from the House. The measure now awaits Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich's signature.

© by Law Bulletin Publishing Company

Chicago Sun-Times ( Jan. 31, 2007)

Editorial: It's time to get state code on right side of the law

January 31, 2007

Decades of court decisions and piecemeal changes by lawmakers have made a mess of the Illinois Criminal Code. Laws that have been struck down as unconstitutional remain on the books, even though they can't be enforced. Haphazard additions have resulted in inconsistencies and confusion. Similar crimes are addressed in widely separated sections. The code has become increasingly unworkable, and that's why the Legislature should move quickly this session to reform it.

Thankfully, a panel representing everyone with a stake in the criminal justice system has done the hard work already. The Criminal Law Edit, Alignment and Reform Commission, led by former Gov. James Thompson and former Appellate Court Justice Gino DiVito, spent 18 months carrying out the mission described by its name. The group has presented a plan to streamline the code, cut redundancies and inconsistencies, drop unconstitutional provisions and end the confusion that, as DiVito put it, "has led to lengthy and expensive disputes, retrials and delays."

Lawmakers still have their work cut out for them, given that the code now runs more than 300,000 words and the panel's proposals are numerous. But the panel has tried to ease the way by only proposing changes that won the unanimous approval of everyone on the diverse group, which includes judges, lawmakers from both parties, prosecutors, public defenders, defense lawyers and law enforcement representatives. That should eliminate any controversy, leaving the Legislature with the still-difficult job of vetting the panel's work.

Examples of changes include placing offenses against children and students, which are now scattered throughout the code, into a new "Harms to Children and Students" article. Outdated words like "wickedly" and "officiously" were replaced or removed. The statute that describes intimidation as threatening to commit a "criminal offense," which courts have found to be unconstitutionally vague, has been changed to clarify that intimidation occurs when someone threatens to commit "a felony or Class A misdemeanor." One idea that did not make the cut was ending laws against adultery and fornication. Panel members said those laws, while rarely enforced, remain hot-button issues that could bog down their efforts.

The group also hopes to complete a review of the state's similarly confusing Code of Corrections, which covers sentencing. It also hopes to persuade lawmakers to create a legislative panel whose job would be to prevent confusing changes in the future, so we don't have to repeat this task in 40 years.

This represents the view of Sun-Times News Group newspapers in metropolitan Chicago.

National Law Journal (Jan. 5, 2007)

ILLINOIS

A criminal code is set for major surgery
Lynne Marek/Staff reporter
January 5, 2007

CHICAGO-An Illinois commission has spent the past 19 months rewriting the state's criminal code, paring a third of it by removing redundancies, outdated language and provisions ruled unconstitutional since it was last revised in 1961.

The proposed new code would help the state's courts become more efficient by reducing appeals and reversals, supporters say.

For Illinois judges and lawyers, 45 years of legislative amendments to the state criminal code have chiefly made it more confusing, said attorney and former Illinois Appellate Court Judge Gino DiVito. He worked with 20 other members of a bipartisan commission charged with rewriting the code.

The new code will be introduced in the state Legislature this month. It is likely to come to a vote in the fall, said state Senator John Cullerton, who was also on the commission.

All the commissioners, including prosecutors and public defenders, back the revision and are confident it will become law.

"It was an attempt to go back to a much cleaner, more concise, understandable code," said Paula Wolff, a senior executive at Chicago Metropolis 2020, an organization assisting the commission.

Chicago Metropolis 2020, funded by corporate and foundation grants, got the initiative rolling in December 2004 after legislators told Wolff that a revision was overdue. A 2003 overhaul failed because it lacked support from legislators and lost a main backer when Governor George Ryan left office, Wolff said.

The nuts and bolts

The new code draws together similar subjects scattered throughout the code; for instance, grouping all drug-related crimes in one section. It also replaces little-used words, such as "willfully," with more common ones such as "knowingly." Some theft provisions are updated to use higher dollar amounts to trigger tougher sentences, giving a nod to inflation.

Illinois isn't the only state grappling with an overstuffed, anachronistic code last revised in the 1960s and 1970s. Legislators in many states have added lots of laws over the years to show they're tough on crime and are loath to vote against any such proposals, said Paul Robinson, a professor of criminal law at University of Pennsylvania Law School who worked on the previous attempt to revise the Illinois code.

"Inevitably, they pass this legislation that creates new offenses, most of which is completely unnecessary because it's already criminalized," Robinson said.

Illinois has one of the most problematic codes because its rate of legislative additions has outpaced other states, he said. While Illinois is currently the only state in the country rewriting its code, according to lawyers and scholars, there are others that have considered it. Kentucky tried and failed, while Kansas has recently reviewed the possibility, Robinson said.

By not tackling some controversial issues, such as removal of outdated provisions on adultery and fornication, commission members hoped to improve chances of winning public and legislative support for the new code, they said. Robinson said the size of the reduction suggested that the commission could have done more.

"Unless and until I've seen what they've done, I can't criticize or compliment them," said Chicago criminal defense attorney Ed Genson.

Next, the commission will turn to clarifying the complementary Illinois code of corrections. To help with the effort, Chicago Metropolis 2020 won a $175,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.