“I am a solo practitioner attorney who devotes a significant portion of my practice to criminal records law. I represent many individuals in need of executive clemency in order to “clean off” their criminal records. I sincerely appreciated the Dec. 28 editorial [“Decide quicker on clemency cases“] about the importance…
PART 1 OF 2 I am usually asked at least once a day if, after learning of a potential client’s criminal history I can guarantee his or her petition for expungement (or sealing, as the case may be) will be granted. While I realize that many of my clients are…
Many of my clients are finding themselves in the position of needing to petition for executive clemency in order to clear even one felony theft charge from their criminal record. As I’ve previously mentioned, someone with even one conviction in his/her past is not eligible for relief through the expungement…
It seems a bit counterintuitive that in Illinois, a person who is merely arrested, but not formally charged with a crime (i.e., this person is “released without charging”, or “RWOC”) must proactively seek to have his/her arrest expunged or sealed. After all, with regard to felonies, if the arresting officer(s)…
In the arena often dubbed “the collateral consequences of conviction”, the gubernatorial pardon, as discussed in my previous blog entry, can be considered the “patriarch” of relief procedures, but as a practical matter, it is an extraordinary form of relief that can take many years to be granted. However, more…
Generally speaking, an Illinois employer or prospective employer may use information from a person’s criminal history record to make a decision about whether or not to hire (or retain, if the individual has already been provisionally hired) that person. Of course, there are several key exceptions to this generality, the…
My clients can be very dismayed when they first learn that their criminal records are not eligible for either expungement or sealing under Illinois law (see 20 ILCS 2630/5 et seq.) However, all is not lost at this point; a petition for executive clemency may be a feasible solution for…
Many people seeking to clear their criminal records through the Illinois expungement and/or sealing laws are quite surprised to learn that certain traffic law violations can affect the outcome of their situation dramatically. Not only do certain violations of the Illinois Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/ et seq.) result in…
Expungement eligibility in Illinois is not decided in a vacuum, but rather a person’s entire criminal record is analyzed to determine qualification. My clients are sometimes astounded by the factors that convert their otherwise expungeable criminal record into non-expungeable one. At times it is even a client’s non-compliance with a…
There are so many common misconceptions about what can and cannot be expunged from an adult’s criminal record in the state of Illinois. Moreover, it’s not just the general public who is confused about the state of our laws in this area; I’ve encountered numerous attorneys, and even a few…