Criminal backgrounds
One part of the bill, called the Employee Background Fairness Act, calls for strictly limiting the ability of employers to use a personâs criminal history to deny someone a job or take any other adverse action unless there is a âdirect relationshipâ between the conviction and the job, or if there is a specific federal, state or local law prohibiting the employment of such a person.
It also contains similar language regarding housing in buildings under the jurisdiction of public housing authorities.
âIt s just important to note that 55% of Illinois adults have a criminal record, and an applicant with a record is 50% less likely to get a callback for a job offer or an interview than an individual who does not,â said Matt Smith of Cabrini Green Legal Aid. âSo what we see is that just routinely, people who ve been caught up in the criminal legal system, sometimes decades prior, continue to face huge and insurmountable challenges in ge
Police unions and law enforcement organizations from across Illinois were united on Saturday in opposition to a broad criminal justice overhaul the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is pushing during the General Assembly’s lame-duck session, while Cook County’s top prosecutor weighed in with her support.
Lawmakers held a hearing on the amendments for House Bill 163 Saturday.
In the lame-duck session, state lawmakers discussed a new controversial criminal justice reform bill put forth by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus. This is a big problem and requires a bold response. House bill 163 as now amended is a bold response, said John Rakowski with the Illinois State Bar Association.
The proposed legislation includes ending cash bail, expanding police training on use of force and prohibiting chokeholds. It also requires the maintenance of police misconduct records and the use of special prosecutors in officer-involved deaths. This is a comprehensive, bold, transformative initiative to reform the way we look at criminal justice, violence reduction and police accountability across the state of Illinois, added Illinois Senator Elgie Sims.
A bill aimed at making college education and teacher preparation programs more accessible and affordable for people of color began working its way through the General Assembly on Saturday with