Illinois Insights: An Update from Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies (5/16)
May 16, 2022
May 16, 2022
On Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation aimed at curbing a rise in coordinated retail thefts.
House Bill 1091, known as the INFORM Act, defines “Organized Retail Crime ” as a specific criminal charge and provides prosecutors with additional resources to hold perpetrators accountable.
Those who violate the crime by knowingly engaging with others in a theft valued at $300 or more would be guilty of a Class 3 felony. Those who engage in retail theft from one or more establishments would be guilty of a Class 2 felony.
The bill additionally expands the abilities of state ’s attorneys prosecuting organized retail crime by allowing them to prosecute all aspects of such an offense – even if portions of the robbery took place outside their jurisdiction. Finally, it requires online marketplaces, like eBay, to independently verify the identity of “high-volume third-party ” sellers.
The INFORM Act will take effect on January 1, 2023.
Following a violent weekend that saw a 16-year-old teenager fatally shot in Millennium Park, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced plans to move the city ’s existing weekend curfew for minors up an hour, to 10 p.m.
Lightfoot ’s plan bars unaccompanied minors from going to Millennium Park after 6 p.m. from Thursday through Sunday. Children are still allowed if they are with a “responsible ” adult, and the policy will be “strictly enforced and violations will be dealt with swiftly, ” Lightfoot said in a statement.
It ’s unclear when the new curfew window ends, Lightfoot only said the new mandate will continue “for the foreseeable future. ”
The House panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol issued five subpoenas this week for members of Congress. Meanwhile, geopolitical risks and economic headwinds are rattling markets, stores nationwide are struggling to stock enough baby formula, and gas prices are setting records on an almost daily basis.
Public Strategies ’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Towner French, Kaitlyn Martin, and Tristan Breaux discuss the current developments and the country ’s increased polarization along political and ideological lines, and ponder what it would take to bring the country back together and restore our confidence in government.
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