Southern Illinois Criminal Defense Law Blog

A psychology professor has criticized The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in that it may ultimately be used against men in Illinois and elsewhere in their role as father and husband. He feels that the presumption too often in domestic violence matters is that the man is to blame.

Though such a presumption may be correct in certain situations, there are other circumstances where the man turns out to be falsely accused. This professor asserts that close to 40 percent of individuals physically harmed in cases of domestic violence happen to be men. Statistics also bear out that the rate of women charged domestic violence has gone up dramatically during the past decade.

Only one state in the nation, Illinois, outlaws the carrying of handguns of any kind. At least 37 states grant concealed carry permits to applicants that meet certain requirements. This is significant in that in just 1984 there were only 8 states that had such legislation.

Whether one does or does not agree with such legislation, the more important aspect is that our culture is changing and there are many different reasons for why individuals do carry guns. There are now even lines of clothes designed specifically for the fitting and hiding of handguns. Yet the weapons laws have become so complex that is frequently unclear as to what does and does not constitute a weapons charge in the state of Illinois.

A new study of sex offender registries found that the tracking system overestimates the number of convicted persons living in any given community. In some cases, the margin of error was as large as 60 percent. 

The study analyzed sex offender counts in five states, including Illinois. Each contained a broad range of inaccuracies. Registries consistently included individuals who had been deported, re-located, were back in custody or had died. 

Across all five states, it was found that only 43 percent of some 200,000 sex-offenders actually resided where registries purported them to be located. The discrepancy between fact and fiction was around 48 percent in Illinois, a state with approximately 25,000 registered offenders. That means only about 13,000 of those are truly within Illinois neighborhoods.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled criminal defendants have a constitutional right to effective counsel during plea negotiations. The ruling came in a pair of 5-4 decisions and promises to expand supervision of the justice system.

So what exactly does that mean? For many convicted criminals, it could mean a chance at redemption. If a favorable plea bargain was rejected due to a lawyer's incompetence, the accused could challenge his or her conviction.

But the exact consequences of the new ruling are hard to foresee. The New York Times predicts that challenges to plea agreements based upon defense lawyer misconduct will become commonplace. Not an unreasonable expectation, given that some 97 percent of federal convictions are the result of guilty pleas.