Professor Jamelle Sharpe spoke to the Hyde Park Herald about a proposed compromise in Chicago regarding an ordinance that governs the timeframe for phone calls when a citizen is arrested. Experts, including Sharpe, have observed that Illinois state law "expressly states that law enforcement shall provide people in custody access to a phone 'generally within the first hour." Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has proposed a three-hour timeframe, while an alderwoman for the City Council is pushing for the one-hour timeframe.
Sharpe said a three-hour time frame, as suggested by Lightfoot's Law Department, "would be plainly inconsistent with the code," because "the code implements a state-level statutory directive" and "therefore binds the city and the CPD." He suggested that a three-hour default "would permit CPD do something the code forbids: routinely (perhaps always) deny arrestees the right to make phone calls before an hour has passed."
Read the full article at hpherald.com.