Update on Illinois Speeding Laws: Driving Above the Speed Limit Could Land You in Jail

Update on Illinois Speeding Laws

Speeding in Illinois could result in misdemeanor charges.

Are you paying attention to your speed? In January of 2011, penalties increased on laws against speeding. According to 625 ILCS 5/11-601.5, the law is now that if a person is driving at a speed of 31 miles per hour or more but less than 40 miles per hour in excess of the maximum speed limit the violation is considered a Class B misdemeanor. However, if a person is driving at a speed of 40 miles per hour or more in excess of the maximum speed limit the violation is considered a Class A misdemeanor.

What is the definition of a “misdemeanor” in Illinois?

According to 730 ILCS 5/5-1-14, a “misdemeanor” in Illinois “means any offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in other than a penitentiary for less than one year may be imposed”.

What is the definition of a Class B Misdemeanor in Illinois?

According to 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-60, a Class B Misdemeanor in Illinois carries a possible sentence of imprisonment of not more than 6 months and a $1,500 fine.

What is the definition of a Class A Misdemeanor in Illinois?

According to 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55, a Class A Misdemeanor in Illinois carries a possible sentence of imprisonment of less than one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

What is Supervision?

According to 730 ILCS 5/5-1-21, supervision in Illinois “means a disposition of conditional and revocable release without probationary supervision, but under such conditions and reporting requirements as are imposed by the court at the successful conclusion of which disposition the defendant is discharged and a judgment dismissing the charges is entered.” Basically, this means that if supervision is given as a sentence as long as the defendant completes the terms of his supervision a conviction will not enter on his record.

Is Supervision available for speeding 40 miles per hour or more in excess of the maximum speed limit in Illinois?

No. According to 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1(p), supervision is not available to a defendant charged with speeding 40 or more miles per hour in excess of the maximum speed limit.

Should I hire a lawyer to represent me in court?

It is important to be represented by an experienced criminal defense attorney that will work to prevent a conviction from entering on your record or from you having to serve time in jail.

Criminal Law

Redundancy Law – Outlining the Process

Redundancy law can be at times complicated and it is vital that you understand the ins and outs of redundancy so you can ensure you know your rights. Often people think there is a distinction between a dismissal and redundancy. There is not: Redundancy is one of a number of reasons for an employer to dismiss an employee.

If you are being made redundant it is because you employer considers your position is surplus to the needs of the business. It can never be used to unfairly dismiss someone for some other reason. You can only be made redundant for genuine commercial reasons such as your position is no longer needed, there has been a decline in available work, they need to restructure how they do things, they want to contract out work or sell or transfer part of the employer’s business.

Redundancy law says your employer cannot use redundancy as a way to dismiss you for reasons relating to your personality, performance, reliability or age (there is no compulsory retirement age in New Zealand). Your employer can also never put pressure on you to resign or make your work situation unbearable for you. If this happens you may have grounds to file a personal grievance claim as it is forced resignation or constructive dismissal.

If your employer is intending to remove staff they are legally required to tell you what they are proposing to do and how many staff would be laid off under the proposal, which jobs would be cut and how they will run the redundancy process which includes how they will decide who will lose their jobs. They must also give you time to think over and comment on the criteria given. Most employment agreements will set out guidelines for what the employer should do in the case of redundancy. Some employment agreements will outline a redundancy payment but they are not legally required to hand out redundancy payments if it is not stated in the contract.

You employment agreement will most likely define what protection you have from redundancy. There are certain workers that have extra protection if a business changes owners and or are restructured. These workers include cleaners, food catering workers, orderlies in hospitals or rest homes, laundry workers in hospitals, rest homes or educational institutions and caretakers in educational institutions. You can challenge your dismissal in a number of ways if you believe you have been unfairly made redundant. You can raise a personal grievance claim, seek help from a mediator or take your case to the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court if you cannot come to an agreement with your employer.

Traffic Law

How You Can Be Charged With DUI Without a Breath Test

Most people know that a DUI charge can happen when a breath or blood test is over the legal limit of.08. But a lot of people don’t realize that a DUI charge can happen even if the test is under the legal limit or if the suspect declined to take the test. How can this happen you might ask? Well it’s called the “affected by” prong.

You see in a DUI case the Prosecutor has two ways at their disposal in which to a file a DUI charge. One is under the “per se” prong or in other words when the breath or blood test is over the legal limit of .08. This means that the State assumes a person is intoxicated when they are above the legal limit and it’s up to the defense to prove otherwise. The other way is what I described above as the “affected by” prong or in other words the person’s ability to drive was affected by alcohol and they were not necessarily over the legal limit. This is done when the Prosecutor doesn’t have a blood alcohol level, or they simply don’t want to charge under the “per se” prong because the alcohol level was under the legal limit.

The “affected by” prong was created as sort of a catchall for a DUI charge. You see not every DUI charge has scientific evidence. Sometimes people exercise their fifth amendment right against self-incrimination and they decline the breath or blood test. Or in some cases for whatever reason the arresting officer chooses not to ask the driver for a sample. And in some rarer cases the driver provides a test and it is below the legal limit.

In those situations obviously the DUI charge cannot be filed under the “per se” prong because there is no alcohol level to demonstrate the driver was intoxicated. So the “affected by” prong is used to provide a definition of how the driver was intoxicated. That definition states, “A person’s ability to drive is affected by alcohol and/or drugs when their ability to drive is lessened in any appreciable degree.” As you can see this is very ambiguous and gives the Prosecution much leeway in how to interpret what an appreciable degree is.

Now depending on the circumstances not having a breath or blood test can be helpful in a DUI case. But nevertheless a DUI charge can be filed without evidence of what a person’s blood alcohol level was. Even if the blood alcohol level was under the legal limit. To prove a DUI case under the “affected by” prong the Prosecution would more heavily rely on the observations of the driver. Including the observations of the driving, and any physical signs of impairment like slurred speech, coordination issues, bloodshot watery eyes, etc.

Criminal Law
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