The Illinois Supreme Court has recommended that the state`s eavesdropping statute be expanded to give associate Circuit Court judges authority to approve electronic surveillance requests by law enforcement officials.
Full Circuit Court judges, the only ones who can approve such requests, are not always available to officials planning the surveillance, the high court noted.
Also, the court noted that associate judges, under Supreme Court rules, exercise the same authority as full judges at times in hearing felony cases and in other matters.
The proposal was one of several legislative recommendations included by the Supreme Court in its annual message to Senate President Philip Rock (D., Oak Park) and House Speaker Michael Madigan (D., Chicago) for possible action by the General Assembly.
The Supreme Court also recommended that the legislature abolish a law that allows county prosecutors to assess fees against convicted defendants, ranging from $15 to $50 in cases involving misdemeanors and felonies.
Calling the system ”obsolete” and ”a relic of another era,” the court noted that the law had been enacted to provide compensation to county state`s attorneys long ago, before the positions became salaried.
County Board President George Dunne said the fees collected in Cook County are negligible and are ”not a major source of income” for the county. In other recommendations, the court urged changing a law that allows a defendant to receive credit for probation time served when he is given a new sentence for violation of probation.
The law is ambiguous and sometimes makes ”the (new) sentence of imprisonment meaningless,” the court said.
For example, a defendant may receive a 120-day sentence for probation violation. However, if he has already served at least 120 days of his probation period, the new sentence is usually wiped out by prison officials. The court recommended that no credit be given a defendant for time served on probation unless a judge imposing the new sentence orders it.
The court also recommended changes in the state`s unemployment and worker`s compensation laws.
One change deals with the alleged abuse by officers of family held corporations, who in some cases take time off because of a seasonal business slowdown and collect unemployment compensation, the court noted.
The court urged the legislature to determine whether such abuses occur and whether changes in the law are warranted.
In addition, the court called on the legislature to spell out guidelines to assist judges in worker`s compensation cases. Illinois should follow other states and provide a mechanism for the examination of injured workers by medical and rehabilitation personnel to determine the injury`s seriousness, the rehabilitation needs and what the costs would be to employers, the court said.
