Illinois quick hits: Madigan attempts another appeal; prison mail scanning rules proposed

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

Madigan attempts another appeal

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is making another attempt to stay out of prison.

Madigan filed a motion Thursday asking the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stay his surrender date, pending appeal of his conviction on 10 counts of corruption earlier this year.

The former speaker and Democratic Party of Illinois chairman is scheduled to begin serving a 7.5 year prison term Oct. 13.

Man sentenced for child sexual exploitation

A federal judge has sentenced an Aurora man to 34 years in prison and a lifetime of court-supervised release for enticing children to produce sexually-explicit images of themselves.

Prosecutors say Richard Barnett, 46, falsely claimed to be 12 or 13 years old when he contacted girls online and threatened some of them with physical harm if they did not comply with his demands.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to missingkids.org or calling 1-800-843-5678.

Prison mail scanning rules proposed

The Illinois Department of Corrections has implemented new rules to allow the implementation of electronic mail processing for inmates.

A Joint Committee on Administrative Rules hearing is scheduled Sept. 16 on the emergency amendments IDOC filed last month.

The John Howard Association expressed deep concern about the move and said evidence of mail-scanning efficacy is lacking.