Illinois has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws. However, firearm legislation in neighboring states has a significant impact on Illinois. Despite the restrictions and regulations in place, gun trafficking still poses a problem.

If the verdict is upheld, it would be equivalent to more than 60% of Chicago’s annual $82 million budget to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.

The first appeal the court heard Tuesday centered on the new law’s early implementation. It involved a Chicago man who was charged with attempted murder and jailed just before the new law took effect, but who later petitioned for release once cash bail officially ended.

Conditions at Stateville Correctional Center are so uninhabitable that a federal judge ordered most of the population out by the end of September. WTTW News sent questions to men incarcerated at Stateville to hear how they feel about the shuttering of the prison and the state building a new facility.

Whenever there’s talk about how to curb gun violence, two words often come up: assault weapons. Illinois is one of 10 states — plus Washington, D.C. — with a so-called assault weapons ban on the books. WTTW News Explains what that ban does. 

Some are the children of victims whose partners were pregnant. More of the young readers are victims’ nieces, nephews or grandchildren. They have inherited stories, photos, and a sense of solemn responsibility.

Victims of shootings in Chicago ranged in age from 21 to 38 years old. 

Three and a half years after 13-year-old Adam Toledo’s death spurred demonstrations and renewed calls for police reform, the lawsuit filed by his parents is set to go to trial Nov. 6, ramping up the pressure on lawyers for the city to negotiate a settlement in the high-profile case or face a trial that could lead to a multimillion-dollar jury verdict.

Illinois advocates for LBGTQ+ rights are pushing for the state’s high court to mandate that all lawyers, judges and other court personnel, such as clerks and security staff, be trained on be the legal needs of LBGTQ+ people. Critics, however, say the call for inclusivity training is exclusionary.

Murder charges filed against the father of a 14-year-old boy accused of a Georgia school shooting follow the successful prosecution of two parents in Michigan who were held responsible for a similar tragedy at a school north of Detroit.

An estimated 3 million children and teens are exposed to shootings every year in America. More than 1,300 of them have occurred in schools in the past decade.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan, who is also weighing a defense request to overturn the verdict on immunity grounds, delayed Trump’s sentencing until Nov. 26, three weeks after the final votes are cast in the presidential election.

Hunter Biden’s stunning decision to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges without the benefits of a deal with prosecutors came hours after jury selection was supposed to begin in the case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.

Though murders were down 12% from August 2023, the number of shootings and shooting victims was slightly higher, according to Chicago Police Department data.

Parole Illinois was formed by men who are incarcerated in Illinois prisons. They’re working to reinstate the parole system after it was abolished in the state in 1978.

Advocates are raising concerns about the location of these facilities and the impact they will have on both those behind the prison’s walls and its employees.