NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect the law as of 2020. The penalties listed pursuant to 625 ILCS 5/11-501 include all the newest penalties for driving with THC (Cannabis/marijuana) in your system. You are heading home from having a couple drinks with friends . . . and you see flashing lights behind you. […]
625 ILCS 5/11-501
The Illinois legislature changed a section in the Vehicle Code in 2014, establishing severe penalties for driving with a suspended or revoked license. Driving while license suspended, 625 ILCS 5/6-303(a), is in most situations a Class A misdemeanor. The maximum penalty for such an offense is up to one year in jail (364 days). But […]
Drive a vehicle illegally on Illinois roads, and you might not take the vehicle home with you. An obscure law in this state allows the police to seize the vehicle and sell it. And in situations where someone other than the owner was driving, those vehicles can be seized and sold over the owner’s objection. […]
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives will vote soon on a bill that allows police officers to tow and impound vehicles for driving without proof of insurance. Proposed by Representative Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, the bill would amend 625 ILCS 5/4-203. This is the statute that authorizes law enforcement to tow and impound vehicles abandoned on […]
Driving under the influence is one of the very few crimes in which the defendant’s guilt or innocence depends almost completely on another person’s opinion. It is a troubling proposition that a court of law could impose a judgment on someone based on another’s subjective thoughts. But that is exactly what Illinois courts do for […]
