Mike Simmons, a North Side Democrat who wears his hair in freeform locs. The new law was inspired by 4-year-old Gus “Jett” Hawkins, whose private school forced him to take out his braids last school year, and sponsored by state Sen. Schools will no longer be allowed to ban braids, locks, twists or other hairstyles associated with race or ethnicity. The plan even prompted the resignation of Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope, who said the package had “demonstrated true ethics reform is not a priority.” Ethnic hairstyles Good-government groups say many of the new law’s provisions don’t go far enough to change the culture of corruption in Illinois. A prohibition on lawmakers becoming lobbyists for six months after leaving office doesn’t take effect until after new lawmakers who will be elected in November take office in January 2023. While many of the law’s provisions kick in Jan. The law requires additional disclosures from officials on personal financial interests, aims to prevent lawmakers from lobbying their former colleagues immediately after they leave office, and allows the legislature’s watchdog to initiate investigations of alleged wrongdoing without the blessing of a panel appointed by the partisan leaders of the General Assembly, among other changes. Lawmakers approved an overhaul of government ethics laws that was largely panned by good-government advocates. The change was approved without opposition in the legislature. Any confession made under those circumstances will be inadmissible in court unless prosecutors can prove “by a preponderance of the evidence that the confession was voluntarily given.” The new law bars police from knowingly providing false information about evidence or making unauthorized statements about leniency while questioning those 17 and younger. Police will be forbidden from using deceptive tactics when interrogating minors, making Illinois the first state in the nation to ban a practice that advocates of the law say can lead to false confessions and, ultimately, wrongful convictions. Separately, a person who calls the police on someone because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other protected characteristic when there is no emergency will now face potential civil liability in addition to possible criminal charges under the state’s hate crime law. The state’s definition of a hate crime is being expanded to include acts of violence, theft or a host of other offenses against another person because of their immigration or citizenship status. Judges may consider myriad factors including an inmate’s disciplinary record while incarcerated, their reduced risk for committing future violence, and if their health has worsened. Under the new law, someone who is resentenced cannot be given a harsher penalty than their original sentence. Resentencing criminal suspectsĬounty prosecutors throughout Illinois will be allowed to seek resentencing for people convicted of crimes if they believe their original sentence does not serve the interests of justice. The new requirement results from an amendment to the state’s Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act, which in January 2020 began requiring employers to seek permission from applicants to use this type of technology in the job interview process. The state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will then determine whether that information shows any racial bias.
Advertisement Artificial intelligence in hiringĪs the use of algorithms by big business continues to spark controversy, employers in Illinois who use artificial intelligence will face additional scrutiny.Ĭompanies that analyze video interviews with job applicants to determine who gets an in-person interview will be required to report to the state the races and ethnicities of the job candidates.