Supposed Legal Basis For County Threats Possibly A Scam

The Daily Herald has published an article which reveals that when Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno threatened municipalities that opted out of the red light cameras by claiming they had a legal opinion to back up the threat, they may have been lying.  Cook County has decided to place red light cameras at several intersections controlled by Cook County.  Many of the proposed red light cameras will be located inside municipalities that have decided not to use red light cameras in their towns.  One such town is Schaumburg, which already tried red light cameras but decided to remove the camera and not use them anymore.  The Cook County Board eventually decided to give municipalities the right to opt out of the program.  Stroger and Moreno threatened municipalities that were considering opting out of the program by telling them that if they decided to opt out, the county would turn over the maintenance of the intersections to them.  The high maintenance costs would all but force these municipalities to accept the red light cameras.  Stroger and Moreno claimed that they had received a legal opinion from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office which stated that they had the legal authority to turn over the maintenance of these intersections to the municipalities.  However, it turns out that no such legal opinion exists.  Cook County Commissioner Timothy Schneider, an opponent of red light cameras, received a letter from a deputy at the Cook County State's Attorney's Office that "no such opinion exists."  Stroger and Moreno and not produced any such legal opinion and attorney's for the various municipalities that are considering opting out of the red light camera program have not been able to find any legal authority which supports Stroger and Moreno's claim that Cook County has the legal authority to turn over the maintenance of their intersections to the municipalities.  It is starting to look like Stroger and Moreno have been caught lying about their legal authority to impose their will on local residents.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

GPS Case Causes Split Of Authority On Need To Obtain Warrant

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in California and covering the nine western states, ruled that law enforcement can place GPS trackers on cars, without seeking a warrant.  In 2007, Drug Enforcement Agents (DEA) in Oregon attached a GPS to a Jeep owned by Juan Pineda-Moreno, who was being investigated for growing marijuana.  After Pineda-Moreno was arrested, prosecutors argued that his Jeep had been driven several times to several locations where agents discovered that marijuana was being grown.  Prosecutors used the GPS data to link Pineda-Moreno to those locations.  Faced with this evidence, Pineda-Moreno pled guilty to growing marijuana and served a 51 month jail sentence.  However, he appealed the placing of the GPS device on his Jeep on the grounds that sneaking onto his private property and placing a GPS device to secretly track his Jeep violated his reasonable expectation of privacy.  Evidence shows that DEA agents went onto his property several times without his permission and without his knowledge.  His appeal was rejected twice by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Earlier this month the full court also rejected his appeal without comment.

It's likely that this issue will have to be decided by the Supreme Court.  A federal appeals court in the District of Columbia arrived at an entirely different conclusion when they ruled that a warrant is required to place a GPS tracking device on a suspected drug dealer's vehicle.  We published an article concerning this case earlier this month. 

The dissent in the Pineda-Moreno case called the majority's ruling "creepy" and "underhanded."  At least one privacy advocate warned that if this ruling stands, citizens will have to take active measures to protect their privacy, such as placing their vehicle in a garage, posting no trespassing signs or building a fence.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Ohio Death Row Case Raises Questions Of Innocence

Kevin Keith is set to be executed by lethal injection in Ohio on September 15.  Keith is claiming that he is innocent.  While there's nothing unusual about his proclamation, what is unusual is the growing support in the legal community for his claims.  Prosecutors allege that on February 13, 1994, Keith murdered three people because he believed that they had informed on him to police investigating his illegal drug sales.  One of the murder victims was a 4 year old girl.  Several witnesses testified against Keith at trial and his attorneys did not produce any mitigating evidence at his sentencing hearing and he was sentenced to the death penalty.  A closer look at Keith's case offers some good reasons why a new trial or commutation of his death sentence may be warranted.  Some 31 former judges and prosecutors are supporting Keith's claims.  At his trial, the police had mentioned that a witness, by the name of "Amy Gimmets" had given them the name of "Keith" as the shooter who committed the murders.  Keith's defense attorneys discovered that "Amy Gimmets" does not exist.  They argue that if the jury had been told that "Amy Gimmets" did not exist, it may have undermined the credibility of the police witness.  Also, the 911 police logs do not support the police and prosecution theories of the case.  At trial, the police and prosecutors told that jury that witness John Foor had called the police and told them that the shooter was "Kevin."  The 911 tapes do not support this contention.  The same 911 tapes also show an important discrepancy in the trial testimony of a witness who claims she found a shell casing near the scene of the crime.  The shell casing was the sole piece of physical evidence prosecutors used to connect Keith to the murder.  On top of these problems, there is also compelling evidence that another man, Rodney Melton, may have committed the murders.  Keith's attorneys claim that Melton is the most likely suspect.  Melton was seen in the area right after the murders, he drove the same type of car that was driven by the shooter, Melton's license plate numbers matched partial license plate numbers that the police lifted from the snow, had an extensive violent criminal record and had previously been convicted of murder, and had told a police informant that he had been paid $15,000 to cripple a family member of some of the murder victims.  In addition, Melton had gone to the hospital on the night of the shootings and told a family member that the victims had gotten what they deserve for snitching.

Prosecutors are fighting Keith's claims of innocence and insisting that he was the murderer.  Keith is facing an uphill battle.  Post-conviction efforts by inmates like Keith have been dramatically limited by an ever-increasing conservative Supreme Court.  

We will keep you updated on any developments in this interesting case which raises serious questions about the imposition of the death penalty against a man that may be innocent.  At the very least, his claims deserve to be thoroughly examined before he is executed.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Downers Grove To Increase DUI Patrols

The Downers Grove Police Department will be increasing DUI patrols through September 6, 2010.  The Illinois Department of Transportation has given a grant to the Downers Grove Police Department for increased patrols.  Details concerning the amount of the grant or how many additional patrols are being funded by the patrols were not released by the Downers Grove Police Department.  However, an official with the police department has stated that DUI roadblocks will not be part of the increased enforcement campaign.  Additional patrols will be added to focus on high traffic during typical bar hours.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

North Carolina Review Finds Crime Lab Fixed Murder Cases

In March, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper ordered an independent review by two former FBI agents of the State Bureau of Inspection (SBI), the state's crime lab, after an agent testified that the crime lab had an unwritten policy of excluding complete blood tests results from reports provided to defense lawyers before trials.  The report was released today and it has shocking results.  The independent review found that the crime lab omitted, overstated or falsely reported blood tests in dozens of cases.  The cases involved three that ended in executions and another involving the murder of Michael Jordan's father.  The report found that the crime lab repeatedly aided prosecutors in obtaining convictions over 16 years by misrepresenting blood evidence and keeping important notes and documents from defense attorneys.  The report calls on the review of 190 criminal cases in which "information that may have been material and even favorable to the defense of an accused defendant was withheld or misrepresented."  The report finds that the lab may have violated federal and state laws that evidence favorable to the defendants must be disclosed to their lawyers.  At least four of those cases involve inmates that are on death row and one inmate whose death sentence was commuted to life.  

It is amazing that this story is being swept under the rug and is not being reported widely by the media.  This is a huge story that deserves more attention.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

City Letter To Cops Hints Pressure To Write More Parking TIckets

The Chicago Sun-Times has gotten their hands on a City Hall memo which warns Chicago police officials that the city stands to lose a large amount of revenue if a decline in the number of parking tickets continues.  While the memo does not specifically ask officers to write more parking tickets, critics are pointing out that the memo is a silent message to Chicago police to step up the writing of tickets.  The memo points out that the number of tickets written in July of 2010 dropped 25 percent compared to July of 2009.  The memo also lists specific police districts with the least and most parking tickets.  The most parking tickets were issued in the Near North District, which covers downtown north of the Chicago River.  The fewest tickets were issued in the Wentworth District, which is east of Sox park on the south side.  Fewer tickets had to be dismissed because they were written wrongly.  The memo warns that the city stands to lose substantial revenue if the trend continues.

Cook County Clerk David Orr was highly critical of the city and believes that the memo is meant to have the effect of telling police to write more parking tickets.  The head of the police union also believes that this memo looks like the city is trying to push for ticket quotas.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Legal Opinion From Cook County Attorney Slaps Stroger Red Light Threat

The Daily Herald has obtained a letter from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to the Cook County Board which states that Cook County cannot just turn over maintenance and control over intersections in which towns opt out of the county red light cameras.  The county has announced that they plan on installing 30 red light cameras at intersections controlled by Cook County throughout the suburbs.  Many of these suburbs do not want red light cameras in their communities.  One such suburb is Schaumburg, which has already tried red light cameras only to remove them and decide not to install any more red light cameras in the future.  In response to outcries from towns like Schaumburg, the Cook County Board voted to allow towns to "opt out" of the red light camera program.  Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno, and Board President John Stroger started threatening towns that if they opted out of the red light camera program they would in effect be claiming jurisdiction over the intersection and would be officially required to oversee it.  This would cause severe economic hardship to most of these towns that are already having a hard time dealing with declining revenues.  Moreno was claiming that he had a legal opinion from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office giving Cook County a legal basis for making this threat.  The Cook County State's Attorney's Office refused to discuss the matter claiming attorney-client privilege.  This morning, the Daily Herald disclosed that they had obtained the letter from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office which refutes Moreno's claim that there is a legal basis for this threat.  The legal opinion states that Cook County must enter into a written agreement with the town before maintenance and control of the intersection is turned over to the town.

Both Moreno and Stroger are lame ducks.  Both were defeated in their primary elections earlier this year.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C.., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Private Company Stepping Up Parking Ticket Citations

The private company that paid the City of Chicago $1.15 billion over 75 years to take over the city's parking meters is stepping up its efforts to issue parking tickets for parking violators.  The company, Chicago Parking Meters, LLC., was forced to stop issuing tickets last year after a slew of complaints starting coming in from the public about faulty meters and a flawed system.  However, they have recently hired a private firm to start issuing parking tickets.  From June 21 to July 14 they issued 1,345 parking tickets, mostly in the downtown Central Business District.  What's interesting is that these tickets were issued by 5 ticket writers.  The company is planning to hire 15 additional ticket writers by the end of this year.  All of the fine collected by these tickets will go to the city.  The company is hoping that the ticket writing campaign will increase compliance with the parking meters, which currently stands at about 75%.  In recent years, the number of parking tickets issued by employees of the City of Chicago have been dropping.  This has been happening at the same time that the economic slowdown has caused a hiring slowdown with the Chicago police.  The trend has been continuing this year. Through June 30, 225,838 parking tickets have been issued by City of Chicago employees.  During the same period last year, 258,057 parking tickets were issued.  In spite of these figures, the deal to privatize the meters has been a financial success for everyone involved.  The company is expecting to bring in more than $73 million this year.  Before the deal, the city was bring in about $20 a year from the meters.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Garbage Collectors Enlisted To Fight Crime

The Cook County Sheriff has drafted 25 garbage collectors who work for Waste Management in Alsip and trained them to look for suspicious activity while working, such as drugs in the garbage, marijuana plants growing in yards and abandoned vehicles on the street.  There is no costs to the taxpayers or the county for these additional crime fighters.  Waste Management is really the force behind this program.  They started "Waste Watch" in 2004 and have actually implemented this program in Orland  Park since 2006.  The Alsip based Waste Management garbage collectors handle waste from Chicago Ridge, Oak Lawn, Orland Park, Palos Heights and several other suburbs.  The garbage collectors will have no police power.  They will simply be trained to know what to look for and anything they report to the police will be held confidential.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said that he hopes to expand this program to all the suburbs in Cook County.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Medical Marijuana Cards Available To Out Of State Residents In Montana

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has decided to issue medical marijuana cards to out of state residents.  The Department was going to issue medical marijuana cards to legal residents of Montana only when a closer examination of the state law revealed that there was nothing in the law which required recipients of the medical marijuana cards to be residents of Montana.  Consequently, the Department decided to go ahead and process out of state resident applicants.  At the end of July, 2010, 23,500 patients were registered in the medical marijuana registry.  That was an increase of nearly 4,000 people from June and more than 12,300 since the beginning of this year.  Department officials had discovered that several out of state residents had been issued medical marijuana cards so they decided to tighten the policy.  However, after they closely examined the law they realized that it was silent on the residency requirement and decided to continue issuing cards to out of state residents.  Department officials have stated that they will continue to do this until the state legislature changes the law and fixes the loophole. 

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Chicago Police Exploring High Tech Efforts To Fight Crime

The Chicago Police have teamed up with the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Rand Corporation on a high tech project that will try to pinpoint crime hot spots.  The National Institute of Justice has provided $200,000 to set up a special project that Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weiss believes "will lead to smarter policing."  The police will feed daily data of criminal activity into a computer database that will provide real time data of how and where gangs are operating.  "Predictive Analytics" will then analyze the data and predict future criminal activity.  The data will be analyzed by experts at the Illinois Institute of Technology.  Before this project, the data involving criminal activity was compiled on a yearly basis.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Kane County Jail Overcrowding Leads To Early Release Efforts

Since July, at least a dozen inmates have been released early from the Kane County Jail in a deliberate effort to ease overcrowding.  Kane County's Jail, which cost nearly $56 million and opened just two years ago had 704 inmates even though it had been designed to hold 640 inmates.  The high number of inmates for 2010 was 708 inmates just a couple of weeks ago.  The Kane County State's Attorney does not believe that a spike in crime is behind the increase in the number of inmates but blames the spike on more defendants missing court and being arrested on outstanding warrants and more probation violations.  When the jail reaches a population of 680, a special bond call is set up and eligible inmates chosen by the probation department are brought before a judge who determines if they should be released from custody with special  bond restrictions.  Special bond calls have been held on July 2 and July 22.  17 inmates have been released as a result of those special bond calls.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Governor Signs Law Establishing Student Tip Line

Today, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill into law that establishes an anonymous hotline for students to call the police and tip them off on violence in the schools.  The hope is that the hotline will help break the code of silence among students that may help prevent shootings and fights that could lead to deaths.  Governor Quinn signed the bill in the troubled Roseland community in Chicago, which has been the scene of a few highly publicized school shootings.  Supporters of the bill point to a couple of incidents in Roseland in which students knew that a big fight was going to happen but did not tell anyone what was about to happen.  The hope is that this new hotline will make it harder for kids to try to protect gang members and their friends by tipping police ahead of time of upcoming violent events.  All calls will be answered by police officers and the calls will be recorded.  The anonymous tip lines are scheduled to be up and running by the beginning of the New Year.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

District of Columbia Court Rules Police Need Warrant To Track Car With GPS

In a very interesting decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the police need to obtain a warrant to use a GPS device to track the movements of individuals.  The case involves the drug convictions of nightclub owners Antoine Jones and Lawrence Maynard who were convicted of dealing drugs.  The police tracked their movements for a month by planting a GPS device on a vehicle parked on private property without a warrant.  The state argued that the defendants did not have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" because their movements happened in public.  The Court of Appeals rejected this argument and held that "society recognizes Jones' expectation of privacy in his movements over the course of a month as reasonable, and the use of the GPS device to monitor those movements defeated that reasonable expectation."  This decision may help set a precedent for future cases since it does not appear that any other federal court has issued a decision on this issue.  State court decisions do vary.  The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled that the warrantless use of such GPS devices does not violate the Fourth Amendment while the New York Court of Appeals has ruled that it does violate the Fourth Amendment.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Cook County Sheriff Adds Crime Blotter To Website

The Cook County Sheriff has added a "Cook County Crime Blotter" to their website.  The Sheriff believes that this will help residents stay informed about what types of crimes are being reported and investigated in their communities.  The County map is divided into four sections, which are the four suburban courthouses, Rolling Meadows, Skokie, Bridgeview and Markham.  By clicking on each section, residents can "access basic information about some of the recent calls our officers have handled in that area."  The Cook County Sheriff's Office receives about 40,000 calls a year.  In addition to keeping residents informed of criminal activity in their communities, the Sheriff's Office also hopes that it will help them solve crimes.  The hope is that by providing this information to residents, they can use their eyes and ears to help provide them with information once they know what the police are investigating and looking for.

To access the Cook County Crime Blotter, click here. 

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

DuPage County Files Lawsuit Against Alleged Gang Members

For the fourth time in ten years, the DuPage County States Attorneys Office filed a civil lawsuit against 10 men who they allege are gang members.  The lawsuit names 10 men who are alleged to have been involved in stabbings, beatings, drug crimes, graffiti, forgery, intimidation, weapons violations and numerous other crimes.  A little known 1993 state law allows for local officials to seek civil remedies against gang members.  The 10 men have been identified by Addison police as being involved in gang activity.  The prior lawsuits have been met with limited success.  The first lawsuit was declared unconstitutional, but an appellate court returned the case to the trial court and the trial court issued an injunction forbidding gang members from associating but refused to impose a $525,000 civil penalty against the gang members.  Similar lawsuits have been successful in other states.  However, civil libertarians and many criminal defense attorneys are highly critical of such lawsuits, afraid that law-abiding citizens can be wrongly wrapped up in such lawsuits.  

Cook County has decided not to file such lawsuits because of the difficulty in enforcing any injunctions.  DuPage County prosecutors insist that these lawsuits have played a big role in keeping gang violence to a minimum.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295. 

Suburban Leaders Clash With Stroger Over Plans To Impose Red Light Cameras

Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson, and State Representative Mark Walker, a Democrat from Arlington Heights, have joined together and sent a letter to Cook County President, John Stroger, to object to the county's plans to impose red light cameras in their communities.  Cook County is planning on installing 30 red light cameras at intersections involving roads controlled by Cook County.  Six of the cameras will be in Schaumburg and three will be in Arlington Heights.  Last month, the Cook County Board allowed communities that objected to the installation of the red light cameras to opt out of the program.  Now, Stroger is threatening to turn over responsibility for those intersections back to the communities should they choose to opt out of the red light camera program.  This threat is especially troubling to cash-strapped communities that would have to raise fees and possibly increase taxes to cover the cost of taking over responsibility for county roads.  Schaumburg has already tried red light cameras and has since decided not to use them.  Arlington Heights has also indicated its strong opposition to the use of red light cameras in their community.  In the letter, Larson was diplomatic and urged Stroger to engage in a dialogue with local communities.  Walker was much more combative in the letter accusing Stroger of concocting another scheme to steal money from taxpayers.  

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Tasers Becoming Weapon Of Choice For Chicago Police

Earlier this year, the Chicago Police equipped every beat car with Tasers.  As a result, figures released by the Independent Police Authority indicate that police officers have been putting the Tasers to good use.  In the second quarter of this year, 2010, Tasers were discharged 285 times.  In comparison to the first quarter of 2010, Tasers were only discharged 74 times and in the fourth quarter of 2009 they were only discharged 39 times.  Very few of those Taser discharges have resulted in misconduct allegations.  The department is using federal funds to purchase the Tasers.  Currently, 280 Tasers are being used by sergeants and field training officers.  In March of this year, the department announced that they would be buying an additional 380 Tasers to be deployed throughout the department.  This additional purchase of Tasers would make it possible to equip every single beat car on the street with Tasers and most specialized units on the street.  About 3,000 officers have gone through a mandatory eight hour training program to learn how to properly use the Tasers.  There have been cases in which suspects have died as a result of a Taser being used on them.  In the eight hour training program officers are being trained to use short, five second burst, and to try to shoot at a suspects back or below the chest.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Supreme Court Slowly Doing Away With Miranda

Want to bring our readers' attention to an interesting article that is discussing how the United States Supreme Court has been slowly chipping away at the Miranda warnings.  The Supreme Court has been changing some of the requirements of Miranda.  Nobody is predicting that the court will do away with Miranda, but it has been tinkering around the edges.  The changes will affect the way police act in a host of cases.  Just in the last session alone, the Supreme Court has issued decisions in three Miranda cases that have sharply limited the Miranda warnings. Readers of this blog know that we have been reporting about this trend for several years.

You can read the actual article for yourself by clicking here.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Chicago Police Continue To Try To Battle Perceptions

In yet another press conference, Chicago Police Superintendent, Jody Weis, discussed how the crime rate in Chicago has been dropping and how effective police efforts have been in reducing the crime rate in Chicago.  The perception among the public is that crime is rising and going out of control in Chicago.  This perception is fueled by attention grabbing headlines and news coverage of shootings and violent incidents in the city.  In a recent study, nearly half of Chicago residents stated that they believe that crime is on the rise in Chicago.  The Chicago police have been holding public press conferences discussing police successes trying to battle this perception.  The fact is that the crime rate has been steadily dropping during the past 20 years.  Weis has stated that he will be more proactive in trying to battle the misconception that crime is getting worse by holding more press conferences and getting the message that the crime rate has been on the decline.  

Much of this perception is a result of the changing technological news environment.  With 24 hour cable news channels and internet news services, stories that used to receive very little coverage get spotlighted and the public is given the impression that crime is out of control.  We have been reporting for a long time about the dropping crime rate in Chicago and how the number of arrests by the Chicago police been going down.  The crime reduction has even resulted in the shutting down of sections of the once overcrowded Cook County Jail.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Disparities In Cocaine Sentences Finally To Be Reduced

This afternoon, President Obama will sign a bill into law that finally reduces the prison sentence disparities between rock cocaine and crack cocaine.  The decades old disparities resulted in the disproportionate incarceration of blacks.   Under the old law, possession of five grams of crack cocaine carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison while it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to trigger the mandatory minimum five year prison sentence.  Studies show that crack cocaine is more likely to be found in black neighborhoods while powder cocaine is more likely to be found in white neighborhoods.  Under the new law, in order to trigger the mandatory minimum five year prison sentence, the amount of crack cocaine is increased to 28 grams while the amount of powder cocaine remains at 500 grams.  The disparity has been reduced from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1.  The new law also eliminates mandatory prison sentences for simple possession of crack cocaine.  

The battle to reduce the disparity between crack and powder cocaine has been a long time coming.  This disparity has been the subject of great criticism by Civil Rights leaders and became a campaign issue during the last presidential election.  As a candidate, President Obama expressed his desire to tackle this issue and pledged to support legislation to deal with this disparity.  Today, he gets to keep a campaign promise.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.