Illinois
Sangamon County sheriff’s department subject of a Department of Justice civil rights probe
A scathing letter from the U.S. Department of Justice said the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey by a now former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy in her home this past summer “raises serious concerns about (the sheriff department’s) interactions with Black people and people with behavioral health disabilities” along with a host of practices and procedures.
The eight-page letter directed to Sheriff Paula Crouch and State’s Attorney John Milhiser among others and dated on Nov. 14, asks for the department’s cooperation in providing records in nearly 30 different areas.
Crouch, in a statement released Friday, said her department “pledged full cooperation with the Department of Justice in its review.”
A representative from the office of civil rights attorney Ben Crump didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Florida-based Crump represents the Massey family.
The DOJ probe is outside of the criminal prosecution of former deputy Sean Grayson, who is charged with Massey’s murder.
The letter added that Massey’s killing incident brings into question the sheriff’s department’s “policies, practices, procedures, and training regarding community policing, bias-free policing, response to behavioral health crises, use of force, de-escalation, affirmative duty to intervene, affirmative duty to render medical aid, and body-worn camera policies and compliance.”
The fatal incident and prior 911 calls involving Massey in the days before her death indicate “possible issues” with Sangamon County, the sheriff’s department and the sheriff’s department emergency response and dispatch system, the letter added.
The DOJ also has reviewed reports “concerning (the sheriff’s department employment practices, including allegations that a lack of racial diversity at (the department) impacts (its) provision of policing services in communities of color.”
In addition to seeking all records related to the fatal shooting of Massey, the sheriff’s department was asked to identify whether it “has provided or currently provides any form of alternative response models when responding to behavioral health crises or interacting with someone with a behavioral healthdisability.”
That includes any co-responder teams, mobile crisis teams or Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) programs.
With regards to its hiring process for deputies and lateral transfers, the department was asked to produce information on recruitment, background check, psychometricevaluation, reference, and selection processes.
Grayson’s hiring process has been brought into question. His criminal history shows he had two DUIs and a questionable discharge from the military. Grayson had also been with six different law enforcement agencies within four years.
Grayson used his future father-in-law, Scott Butterfield, a former county sheriff’s deputy, as an employment reference in 2023.
Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman and the mother of two children, called 911 about a would-be prowler at her home on Hoover Street early on the morning of July 6. Massey was the subject of a 911 call shortly after 9 a.m. on July 5 made by her mother, Donna Massey, who said she was having “a mental breakdown.”
Springfield Police responded because Donna Massey’s home was within the city. Sonya Massey’s Hoover Street home is an unincorporated part of Woodside Township.
The Massey Commission was called for in August by Sangamon County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter and State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, with an eye towards addressing systemic issues in law enforcement practices, mental health responses and community relations.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS) — After a brief lull in the weather on Friday, now another winter storm is setting its sights on central Illinois. Come Saturday, our next round of Winter is set to arrive. A new weather maker sweeps across the Upper Midwest, causing more snow to develop by mid-morning on Saturday. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued from 7AM Saturday through 8 PM Saturday evening. The snow will pick up intensity by late-morning and last through the afternoon into the early evening hours before ending. This new weather system will follow a path very similar to the previous storm system and spread a swath of moderate to locally heavy snow. Before the snow wraps up Saturday evening, expect another 2″-4″ for much of central Illinois, with afternoon high temperatures bitterly cold in the mid-teens.
But the worst blast of cold air comes in Saturday evening into Sunday. Frigid Arctic air surges down from Canada causing temperatures to really tumble, driving in the coldest weather we’ve had in a long time and certainly the coldest so far this season. A Cold Weather Advisory is issued from 8 PM Saturday through Noon on Sunday. Sunday morning will be dangerously cold with wind chills around 20 to 25 BELOW ZERO. With wind chills this extreme, it doesn’t take long to suffer from frostbite or hypothermia. Please stay inside to keep warm, but if you do need to venture out, limit the time you spend outdoors, and make sure to cover up all exposed skin by wearing a hat, scarf, and gloves. Sunday afternoon features lots of sunshine, but despite the sunshine, temperatures will be brutally cold and frigid with high temperatures stuck in the low single numbers while wind chills remain well below zero.
Expect more extremely chilly weather on Monday with wind chills still ranging from 5 to 15 BELOW ZERO in the morning and afternoon highs only reaching into the 20s. Then temperatures will finally start to warm up, and we should climb out of the deep freeze with highs in the mid to upper 30s on Tuesday.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a new law Friday making Illinois the newest state allowing medically assisted dying in terminally ill residents.
Known as “Deb’s Law,” it allows eligible terminally ill adults with a prognosis to live six months or less to request a prescription from their doctor that would allow them to die on their own terms.
The legislation was narrowly approved by the Illinois Senate in October after the Illinois House passed it in May.
People on both sides of the debate over the controversial legislation lobbied the governor up until the last minute. Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is already legal in 12 states. Eight more are considering similar legislation.
“I have been deeply impacted by the stories of Illinoisans or their loved ones that have suffered from a devastating terminal illness, and I have been moved by their dedication to standing up for freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak,” Pritzker said in a news release after signing the bill.
Pritzker’s signature makes Illinois the first state in the Midwest to allow medically assisted death.
Advocates for the law say it allows adults to die on their own terms when survival is already not an option. Opponents say the bill legalizes “state-sanctioned suicide.”
The law requires two doctors to determine a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided would need to be requested both orally and in written documentation, and will have to be self-administered. The law also requires all patients opting into medical assistance in dying to have been full informed about all end-of-life care options, including comfort care, hospice, palliative care and pain control.
The law is named for Deb Robertson, a former social worker from Lombard who had an aggressive case of neuroendocrine carcinoma. She began advocating for medical aid in dying in 2022 and has been a central figure in the movement.
Please note: The above video is from a previous report
Illinois
Advocates, opponents seek to sway Gov. JB Pritzker on medical aid in dying legislation passed by Illinois General Assembly
Illinois could soon join a growing list of states where terminally ill patients would be allowed to take life-ending medication prescribed by a doctor.
The Illinois Senate narrowly approved the “medical aid in dying” legislation in October, after the Illinois House passed it in May, and the legislation is now sitting on Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.
Pritzker has not said if he’ll sign it, and the controversial legislation has people on both sides trying to bend the governor’s ear.
Medical aid in dying, also called assisted suicide or dying with dignity, is legal in 12 states, with eight others considering similar legislation.
If Pritzker allows the “End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act” passed by the Illinois General Assembly to become law, Illinois could be the first state in the Midwest to allow medical aid in dying.
Suzy Flack, whose son Andrew died of cancer, is among the advocates urging the governor to sign the bill.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2017 in his home state of Illinois, three years later Andrew moved to California, where medical aid in dying is legal, and chose to end his life in 2022.
“He died on his own terms, peacefully. We were all there to see it and embrace him at that moment, and it was really a beautiful thing,” Suzy said. “His last words were, ‘I’m happy. Please sign this. Allow people in Illinois this option.’”
Illinois is on the brink of joining a growing number of states that allow doctors to prescribe a mixture of lethal medication for terminally ill patients.
Outside the governor’s Chicago office on Thursday, many disability advocates, religious leaders, lawmakers, and doctors have called on Pritzker to veto the bill that would legalize what they call state-sanctioned suicide
“The question becomes where do you draw the line in the medical ethics dilemmas?” one physician who identified himself as Dr. Pete said. “We don’t need to go to this crossing of a red line of actually providing a means to directly end life.”
Republican Illinois state Sen. Chris Balkema said he “would really appreciate it if the governor would veto this bill.”
“My plea is that we veto this; come back with language that is constructive on both sides,” he said.
Pritzker has he is reviewing the legislation and is listening to advocates on both sides before deciding whether to sign it.
“It’s a hard issue, and I don’t want anybody to think making up your mind about this is very easy. It’s not. There’s a lot to consider, but most of all it’s about compassion,” he said. “There’s evidence and information on both sides that leads me to think seriously about what direction to go.”
The Illinois legislation would require two doctors to determine that a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided to terminally ill patients would need to be requested both orally and in written form, and would have to be self-administered.
The bill was sent to Pritzker on Nov. 25, and he has 60 days from then to either sign it, amend it and send it back to lawmakers, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.
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