Welcome to the Reader‘s morning briefing for Tuesday, December 13, 2016.
State senator Kwame Raoul wants to increase sentences for repeat gun-crime offenders
Democratic state senator Kwame Raoul wants to solve the city’s gun violence issues by imposing longer sentences for “defendants who previously committed a gun-related crime,” according to the Associated Press. Raoul plans to propose the legislation at the state capitol in January. Judges would still be able to issue sentences based on their discretion, but they might have to explain their rationale when not using the higher-end of the sentencing scale for repeated gun-crime offenders. “The question is . . . whether [repeat offenders] are incapacitated long enough to create a breather for some neighborhoods that are just ravaged by gun violence, and long enough to create a deterrence,” he said. [Associated Press via Sun-Times]
