Chicago Criminal Lawyer Blog
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled in People v. Aguilar, 2013 IL 112116 that Illinois’ gun statute (UUW) 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(A)(1) is unconstitutional in that it violates the right to keep and bear arms, as guaranteed by the second amendment to the United States Constitution. As a result, the Cook County States Attorney’s Office is dismissing a number of these cases! There is still the issue as to whether a FOID (firearm owners identification) card is a requirement for these dismissals. At the moment, the State is only dismissing cases where the defendant was in possession of a valid FOID card. We are starting to argue that a FOID card is not necessary. Waiting to see how that plays out.
Additionally, my office is actively combing through our old files to locate those who have been previously convicted of Aggravated UUW under this specific statute provision. Once located, we will be filing motions to vacate these convictions as well. The statute doesn’t “become” unconstitutional as a result of this new ruling. The ruling states that the statue is unconstitutional on its face, meaning it was always unconstitutional from its inception. Continue reading
