Under Illinois law, second-degree murder applies when there is serious provocation of the defendant or when the defendant believes their actions are justified even though that belief is unreasonable; second-degree murder is punishable by a term of four to 20 years in prison or probation.
October 29, 2025
high
legal
Definition and sentencing range for second-degree murder under Illinois law.
Under Illinois law, first-degree murder is punishable by a prison sentence of 45 years to life.
October 29, 2025
high
legal
Sentencing range for first-degree murder under Illinois law.
Under Illinois law as described in 2025 reporting, second-degree murder can be applied when a defendant acted under a 'serious provocation' or when the defendant held a belief that their action was justified even if that belief was unreasonable.
October 29, 2025
high
legal
Describes the legal standard for second-degree murder as provided to a jury.
Darren Bailey was an unsuccessful challenger to five-term incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Mike Bost in the 2024 Republican primary for the U.S. House district that covers much of the bottom one-third of Illinois.
October 23, 2025
high
temporal
Primary contest for a U.S. House seat and district geography
Xenia is a town in southern Illinois.
October 23, 2025
high
geographic
Location of residence mentioned for a political figure
Illinois enacted a law that requires fuller transparency on the backgrounds of candidates for law enforcement jobs.
October 22, 2025
high
policy
State-level lawmaking to improve transparency in hiring for law enforcement positions.
As of 2025-10-20, Illinois law requires fuller transparency on the background of candidates for law enforcement jobs.
October 20, 2025
high
legal
Legislative change increasing disclosure about law enforcement job candidates.
As of 2025-10-20, under Illinois law a conviction for first-degree murder carries a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
October 20, 2025
high
legal
Statutory sentencing range for first-degree murder in Illinois.
An Illinois election regulation permits ballots that are mailed by Election Day to be counted for up to 14 days after polls close.
October 08, 2025
high
policy
State rule on the time window for counting mail-in ballots
Kwame Raoul is the Attorney General of Illinois.
October 07, 2025
high
temporal
Identifies a state officeholder mentioned in the article.
A 2025 Illinois lawsuit asserted that the Illinois National Guard can be federalized only in cases of a foreign invasion, a rebellion, or when the federal government is unable to enforce federal laws.
October 07, 2025
high
temporal
This summarizes the legal standard asserted in litigation concerning federalization of a state National Guard.
A preliminary audit by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) found that California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Washington state, Colorado, and Oregon improperly spent a combined $1,351,204,127 in federal Medicaid funds on healthcare for undocumented (illegal) immigrants, mostly during 2024 and 2025.
January 01, 2025
high
statistical
Result from a CMS preliminary audit reporting aggregated improper federal Medicaid spending by several jurisdictions.
In August 2024, Illinois enacted the Sonya Massey Bill, which requires more thorough background checks for law enforcement officers in the state.
August 01, 2024
high
temporal
State-level legislation expanding background check requirements for police officers.
Darren Bailey lost the 2022 Illinois gubernatorial election to J.B. Pritzker.
January 01, 2022
high
electoral
Historical outcome of the 2022 Illinois governor's race.
Darren Bailey previously served as a state senator in Illinois.
high
biographical
Background on a political figure's prior elected position.
Illinois has sanctuary policies that can lead local officials to refuse cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests.
high
policy
Sanctuary policies are municipal or state-level rules that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement requests such as ICE detainers.
The State of Illinois has sanctuary policies that limit cooperation between state or local officials and federal immigration enforcement requests such as ICE detainers.
medium
policy
Describes a durable state-level policy limiting local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
The Castañon Nava consent decree prohibits warrantless immigration arrests in Illinois.
high
legal
Describes a standing court-approved settlement governing immigration arrests in the state of Illinois.