Justices unanimously rejected challenges from Cook and Will counties that argued Illinois' 1992 stalking law is vague and violates a defendant's constitutional right to free speech.

The law holds that a person may be charged with stalking if he or she at least twice threatens or places a victim under surveillance. The law makes stalking a felony punishable by up to three years in prison.

Defense attorneys in the Cook and Will cases argued that the law gives police and prosecutors too much leeway in defining stalking, and makes otherwise "innocent conduct" unlawful.

The high court justices disagreed. Justice Benjamin Miller wrote that the statute was intended to "prevent violent attacks by allowing the police to act before the victim was actually injured and to prevent the terror produced by harassing actions."

Life sentence just got easier
Getting tough on crime got a bit easier when the Illinois Supreme Court recently adopted a relaxed standard for giving three-time losers a life sentence.

An appellate decision said that earlier Class X convictions had to be proved "beyond a reasonable doubt." In People v. Robinson the court ruled that preponderance of evidence is sufficient proof.

In this case the defendant was convicted of the Class X felony of armed robbery. The state offered certified records of two earlier convictions, but the defendant said that one of them was for simple robbery, rather than armed robbery. He offered no proof.

The 1978 version of the Habitual Criminals Act limits introduction of prior convictions to the sentencing phase. In a 1993 decision the court had already said that sentencing does not involve the presumption of innocence, so the reasonable doubt standard does not apply. In considering the life sentence for a habitual criminal, the judge is to include authenticated records of earlier convictions together with all the evidence offered on the matter.
F. Mark Siebert and Jennifer Halperin

State Reports
Environmental helpers
How to Select an Environmental Consultant, Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, 620 E. Adams, Springfield 62701, telephone 217-785- 4557; and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, 1340 N. Ninth, Springfield 62701, telephone 217-524- 3333 (November 1994).

Small businesses in need of information about selecting an environmental consultant will find answers to a number of basic questions in this small pamphlet, including the role of a consultant and what the contract with a consultant should contain. One of the two appendices lists environmental professionals, including biologists, engineers and industrial hygienists; the kinds of services provided by each; and the certification, licensure and training required for each. The other appendix lists suggested professionals for certain types of environmental work, including tests on indoor air quality that must be conducted by a certified industrial hygienist.

Playground Planning, Illinois Department of Conservation [now the Department of Natural Resources], 524 S. Second, Springfield 62701, telephone 217-782-7616 (January 1995).

This guide will assist local government agencies that have little or no permanent staff as well as community groups that have limited experience in the development of a playground that meets safety, developmental and recreational needs. It provides information about the planning, design, installation and maintenance of public playgrounds. It also contains a sample sign showing safety guidelines, a table illustrating such information as potential safe fall heights, a sample certificate of insurance and a maintenance checklist. A companion guide, Community Park and Recreation Planning, was published by the Department of Conservation in January 1994.

Anna J. Merritt

November 1995 / Illinois Issues/35