Author Archives: lorilevin
Prevalence of stalking and Illinois’ legal response to stalking allegations
Recently, the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics released a revised report on the prevalence of stalking in the United States, which can be found at https://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svus_rev.pdf. Highlights of the report include that during a twelve-month period approximately 1.5 percent of persons aged 18 years or older were victims of stalking, nearly […]
Witness competency
Recently, I was asked if a witness must be a certain age in order to testify in court. Although case law describes in more detail the issues relating to witness competency in Illinois, 725 ILCS 5/115-14 outlines that every person, regardless of age, is qualified to be a witness. The statute further states that a […]
Dismissed Civil Orders of Protection are Still Not Eligible to be Expunged
This week, I was contacted by a blog reader to confirm that civil orders of protection cannot be expunged. As I have written on other occasions, /2/post/2012/02/legislation-introduced-in-springfield-regarding-expungement-of-emergency-orders-of-protection-which-do-not-become-plenary-orders.html and /2/post/2012/06/update-on-proposed-legislation-to-allow-expungement-of-some-civil-orders-of-protection.html, although legislation had been introduced in Springfield last session, the Illinois General Assembly failed to pass a bill. An emergency civil order of protection which does […]
Chairing Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on CLE meeting in Utica
Today, I am chairing the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education meeting. The committee is working on implementing the ISBA’s future offering of 15 hours of free CLE a year as well as continuing to work on long range planning. The committee is meeting in Utica, Illinois. Lori G. Levin Attorney […]
Long-range planning for ISBA’s CLE committee
This and tomorrow morning, I will chair the Illinois State Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education committee’s long-range planning meeting. The ISBA is the premier provider for continuing legal education for lawyers in the State of Illinois. Lori G. Levin Attorney at Law 180 N. LaSalle, Suite 3700 Chicago, IL 60601
When a person may be accountable for someone else’s acts
Often, I am asked how a person can be held criminally responsible for the illegal acts of someone else. In Illinois, a person may be charged and convicted of a crime if he is accountable for the acts of another person. The statute that governs accountability is 720 ILCS 5/5-2. That statute states, in part, […]
American Bar Association Annual Meeting
The American Bar Association is holding its Annual Meeting in Chicago. As the former Assistant Secretary and Vice-Chair for Continuing Legal Education of its Criminal Justice Section, I am pleased that the convention is in my home town. Yesterday, I attended a continuing legal education program on the historic treason trial of Iva Toguri, Tokyo […]
Evaluation of the first year of CPD Crisis Intervention Training focused on delinquent youth who suffer from mental illness
Previously, I have written about the Chicago Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Training. /2/post/2011/07/chicago-police-departments-crisis-intervention-training.html. The CIT training model was originally developed by the Memphis, Tennessee police department in conjunction with the National Alliance on Mental Illness as well as consumers on mental health services. The Chicago Police Department adopted the CIT training in 2004. In 2009, […]
Illinois State Bar Association Annual Meeting
Yesterday and today, I participated in the Illinois State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I attended the Assembly, Women and the Law Committee and Criminal Justice Section meetings as a member. As Chair of the Continuing Legal Education Committee, I spoke at the Continuing Legal Education Coordinator Orientation, as well as the […]
Update on proposed legislation to allow expungement of some civil orders of protection
Previously, I posted regarding legislation which would have allowed expungement of emergency orders of protection under the Domestic Violence Statute which do not result in plenary orders. /2/post/2012/02/legislation-introduced-in-springfield-regarding-expungement-of-emergency-orders-of-protection-which-do-not-become-plenary-orders.html Currently, even if such cases are dismissed, information regarding the emergency order cannot be expunged. That means that such an order based on a ex parte proceeding […]