During the second half of 2023, Governor Pritzker granted a total of seventeen (17) pardons, in various forms, to the same number of petitioners and those results are summarized as follows:  one (1) pardon; eight (8) pardons authorizing expungement ..read more

During April and May, 2023, Governor Pritzker granted a total of thirteen (13) pardons, in various forms, here in our state.  On April 18th, five (5) petitioners with cases from various counties within Illinois, ranging in dates from 1981 to 2002, had their sentences commuted to “parole eligible”. In addition, one (1) petitioner’s sentence, which included Mandatory Supervised Release (MSR), was commuted.  For those not familiar, to “commute a sentence” means that the Governor, in this case, essentially substitutes the original sentence imposed by a judge or jury to something lesser ..read more

In a recent response to my Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking information about number and types of pardons granted between mid-June, 2022 and early-April, 2023, the Chief Legal Counsel, and FOIA Officer, for the Illinois Prisoner Review Board has advised that a mere fifteen (15) individuals have received a pardon, or act of executive clemency, from Governor J. B. Pritzker.  More specifically, since June 15, 2022 and through and including April 3, 2023, there were two (2) “batches” of executive clemency grants issued (nine (9) on February 17, 2023 and six (6) on February 24 ..read more

On this Fourth of July holiday, while many of us are enjoying the abundant freedoms our great nation has to offer, others are not so fortunate.  One group of people that comes to mind in that regard would be those incarcerated, either now or in years past, or individuals otherwise convicted of a criminal offense.  The stigma associated having a past, or present, criminal offense (especially felony) on one’s record cannot be ignored and is one of the main reasons many of my clients approach me seeking help in petitioning the Illinois governor for a pardon.  The term “executive cl ..read more

I have been receiving numerous calls from people wanting to inquire about the status of their, or their loved ones’, clemency petitions. Please understand that I write these posts in an attempt to share knowledge on various clemency (and expungement/sealing) related issues, but that I am just a solo practitioner, and not in any way affiliated with the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. I cannot answer specific questions from clemency petitioners about the status of his/her petition.  Anyone seeking information as to the status of his or her clemency petition should reach out directly to the ..read more

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board has just announced that it has postponed the public hearings available to clemency petitioners that were originally scheduled for January 10th through 14th, 2022 to a later, to-be-determined date.  Updates to the hearing schedule should be published on the Prisoner Review Board’s website, under the Executive Clemency and Expungement tab, but I would also recommend you stay in touch directly with the Prisoner Review Board to determine when you, or your loved one’s, hearing will be rescheduled to.  The next date public hearings are officially set for ..read more

Please join me on October 2, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the 2021 DuPage County Expungement Clinic where I will be spending the day volunteering my time and sharing my knowledge to assist clients with the preparation of Petitions to Expunge and/or Seal and related documents. Volunteer attorneys, such as myself, will be not only assisting with document preparation, but more importantly, providing guidance on case eligibility for expungement or sealing relief, as well as information on the expungement (and sealing) process from start to finish.  This event will be held at the Adm ..read more

Not quite two (2) Fridays ago, perhaps in advance of the upcoming Easter holiday as is common tradition, Governor J. B. Pritzker granted a total of thirteen (13) Petitions for Executive Clemency.  Most of these grants were in the forms of a pardon authorizing expungement of the underlying case or cases in the appropriate county’s or counties’ Circuit Court(s), but there were included amongst the success stories three (3) commutations of sentences.  The convictions at issue ranged, as usual, from felonies to misdemeanors/ordinance violations, and the crimes were both of a violent and ..read more

Hello and Happy New Year to all! I have just received the official press list of the 20 individuals to whom Governor Pritzker has granted executive clemency authorizing expungement and I can advise that this list includes, as usual, people with both misdemeanor and felony convictions, ranging in nature from non-violent drug offenses to crimes of violence, including battery, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting a peace officer. There were several pardons authorizing expungement granted today for (retail) theft convictions and there was even one pardon with authorization to expunge a convictio ..read more

After reviewing a batch of clemency petitions in both November and December, 2018, and granting just a few petitions each time (including commuting the sentences of six young men who were given lengthy prison sentences for what were described as “minor” infractions at a southern Illinois youth correctional facility on December 27, 2018), outgoing Governor Rauner granted thirty pardons with authorization to expunge, most of which contained language restoring firearm ownership privileges as well, on January 11, 2019.  He also granted an additional four commutations, two of which were f ..read more