Illinois has intentionally reduced its prison population, and made changes to sentencing laws to reduce offenders’ time behind bars. Now some victims’ family members are calling for the state to reverse directions when it comes to those who murder children.

The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial deliberated a full day on Tuesday without reaching a verdict over whether he was the instigator in a night of bloodshed in Kenosha or a concerned citizen who came under attack while trying to protect property.

A day after he announced his intention to leave the department, John Catanzara — the first-term president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 — posted a picture of his personnel action request on his Facebook page, which shows that he has indeed retired from the CPD.

After a full day of arguments, the jurors were told to return Tuesday morning for the start of deliberations in the case that has stirred fierce debate in the U.S. over guns, vigilantism and law and order.

The stunning announcement comes after John Catanzara, the head of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, spent hours testifying at his own termination hearing Monday.

“It is not surprising to me that he did not want to face accountability for his own conduct,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 21 people were shot in 18 shooting incidents over the weekend in the city.

The Chicago Police Board on Monday will hold the first in a series of hearings that could lead to the termination of police officer and union head John Catanzara for defying the department’s brass and ignoring its rules.

The Biden administration is nominating its first set of U.S. Marshals, including the first Black man to serve as the U.S. Marshal in Minnesota, along with a slate of other historic firsts for U.S. attorney posts across the nation.

Bradley Rukstales stormed the Capitol, threw a chair in the direction of police officers who had been forced to retreat from rioters, was nearby as a melee between officers and rioters broke out and had to be dragged away by officers after he refused to comply with attempts to get him up from the floor.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said at a news conference that Alton Spann of Chicago was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Friday sentenced U.S. journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years in prison with hard labor, the maximum penalty under three charges, despite calls by the United States and rights groups for his release.

Kyle Rittenhouse is charged with several counts, including homicide and attempted homicide. Wisconsin law allows the prosecution and defense to ask that jurors be told they can consider lesser charges as part of the instructions they receive before deliberating the case. 

The decision to recommend a suspension for slain officer Ella French was the “height of tone-deafness,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday, after a police watchdog agency issued disciplinary recommendations for those involved in the 2019 raid at Anjanette Young’s home.

The defense and prosecution asked the judge to hold closing arguments on Monday, and he said he would take it under consideration.

The largest settlement — $2 million — would go to the family of Julia Lynn Callaway, who was killed in May 2018 when she was struck by a car being pursued by police.