More than a dozen provisions in a criminal-justice equity bill spearheaded by Black lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker — including sections dealing with police misconduct records and officers’ use of force — take effect Thursday.
Additional laws that take effect July 1 include one that deals with pretrial interest costs in wrongful-death lawsuits.
The criminal-justice legislation, passed in the lame-duck session this year and during the General Assembly’s spring session, was championed by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus.
The caucus successfully pushed through wide-ranging legislation on criminal justice and economic, educational and health care disparities in response to the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police and other racial strife nationwide.