Latest news with #CleanSlateBill
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Central Illinois advocates highlight Second Chance Month, Clean Slate bill
CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WMBD) — Representatives from the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishment and House of Hope Peoria are bringing awareness to April being Second Chance Month and the Clean Slate Bill. The purpose of Second Chance Month is to highlight the issues people with criminal records face when trying to reenter society. 'People that have made mistakes deserve a second chance,' said Toy Beasley, central Illinois regional coordinator for Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments. Beasley is a supporter of the Clean Slate Bill. 'Clean Slate Bill states once a person completes their parole or probation three years after their release their record will be automatically cleared,' said Beasley. In several Facebook posts, State Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth said she has been working on the Clean Slate Act and will 'move the legislation through the General Assembly and onto the Governor's desk for signature.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘There were people crying'; Central Illinois federal workers face unemployment, uncertainty
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — President Donald Trump is working to shrink the federal government, and it's coming in the form of sweeping federal worker layoffs. On Thursday, Trump's administration ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary workers. Those employees have generally worked for less than a year and aren't covered by civil service protections. Advocate groups rally at Illinois Capitol for Clean Slate Bill It could potentially impact hundreds of thousands of workers. It's already leaving uncertainty for some in Central Illinois. A.J. Ruggieri of Champaign walked into the office last week for what he thought would be a normal day. He'd been working for a sub agency of the USDA for nearly two and a half months when he learned that his job was cut short. 'I went into the office Friday morning, I looked at my email, and the previous night at 7:50 p.m. I had been sent an email that was titled 'Termination Notice Probationary Employee,'' Ruggieri said. People were emotional, Ruggieri noted. 'There were people crying,' he continued. 'No type of severance, just nothing other than thank you for your federal service.' Illinois bill would require schools to have more military recruitment events Progressive group Champaign County Indivisible rallied outside of Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski's office on Monday advocating for people like Ruggieri. Leadership said this is a tipping point for the country. 'We're at a crossroads,' co-founder Jeff Dougan said. 'If we keep going down this path, I am concerned that government of the people, by the people, for the people will perish from the United States.' Ruggieri said the termination letter he got said he failed to demonstrate that his work was in the interest of the public. He said that's a lie. 'I very much believe in the principles of America, but I also believe we're supposed to take care of each other,' Ruggieri said. 'This has been very challenging.' Danville Board of Education considers appointing interim superintendent Ruggieri said he's lucky that he did not relocate for his federal job. He plans to use connections in the community to figure out his next steps — something that has the added pressure of a family waiting back home. 'I'm married,' Ruggieri said. 'I have three kids. The idea of how we're going to maintain the level of life we've had is in question now.' Five unions for government employees have sued Trump and his administration over the firings, saying it's illegal and violates procedures for reducing the workforce. This could only be the beginning, however. Trump signed an executive order last week that told agency leaders to plan for more cuts on the way. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Advocate groups rally at Illinois Capitol for Clean Slate Bill
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — A group of community leaders and advocates gathered at the Illinois State Capitol earlier this month, calling on lawmakers to introduce a bill that would automatically seal individuals' criminal records after they serve their time. Advocate groups are pushing for lawmakers to create a modernized automatic system to expunge records for minor offenses and replace the current petition-based system. So far, no legislation has been filed. Bill aims to reform Illinois' child incarceration system Under the current law, individuals are required to go through hurdles to file paperwork, hire a lawyer and spend money to have their records sealed. The Clean Slate Bill would remove the middleman from that process. Executive Director and Founder of the Illinois Coalition to Affirmative Policies Marlon Chamberlain said this automatic process will eliminate a lot of those barriers. 'My organization just believes that a criminal record shouldn't follow anyone for life. There are thousands of laws in Illinois that create these permanent punishments for individuals,' Chamberlain said. 'And this is a way where we can allow folks to move on in life and really evolve and grow.' People affected by the criminal justice system often face stigma after serving their time, creating challenges for them to find housing, employment and other opportunities. Illinois bill looks to minimize private donors' influence on judicial elections Central Regional Coordinator for Illinois for Listen to Us and Permanent Punishment Toy Beasley said this is about restoring economic opportunity for some Illinoisans. 'A lot of those people that come home from prison or are already out, they have degrees in certain areas like the banking industry, computer science industry,' Beasley said. 'But because of the way the system is set up, they can't get jobs to work in those fields.' In Illinois, individuals must wait three years after serving their time to file a petition to seal their criminal record costing hundreds of dollars. If approved, law enforcement can take up to two months to seal records from the system. In a study conducted by the Paper Prisons Institute, 60% of individuals have a chance to seal their conviction record and 73% of people with a criminal record are eligible to seal or expunge their record. This is a small portion of the 2.2 million who are eligible but haven't received it yet because of a backlog in the current system. Pritzker signs Karina's Law to take guns away from domestic violence situations New York and Michigan have both passed the Clean Slate Bill, giving opportunities to people with past records to contribute to society. Isiah Brandon, a member of the Worker Center for Racial Justice, hopes this will encourage people to turn their lives around. 'We want to do all that we can to make sure that we're providing a real opportunity for those individuals who are in need,' Brandon said. 'And most certainly for those who have been incarcerated so they can come back into our communities and be positive, productive members of our society.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
