Portside

In Pembroke, the well-intended efforts of mostly white nature conservationists overlook one thing: The township’s Black farming community has never fully supported them. Now, a generations-old way of life is threatened by the push for conservation.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed four bills into law Thursday that implement some criminal justice reforms, notably one with the goal of preventing false confessions.

If Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs the measure that lawmakers passed this week, motorists will no longer lose their licenses for unpaid red-light and speed camera tickets.

The state can follow the example of Abraham Lincoln and finally establish a progressive state income tax.

There was slavery in Illinois for more than 100 years. Even after Illinois entered the Union, loopholes in its laws allowed the practice to continue, making the future Land of Lincoln a quasi-slave state. 

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Illinois is what I would call a quasi-slave state. And what’s surprising to people is that it existed here within the law. It begins with the colonial slave laws that came from France (because Illinois was a French territory).

A national movement stalled by backlash politics gets some new wind at its back.

Between 2012 and 2017, DHS spending for gambling addiction declined 20% even as the number of video gambling machines grew dramatically around the state and appropriations increased slightly. The number of people receiving services dropped by 37%