That’s how much the Illinois Department of Corrections estimates that it would cost to incarcerate each 15- and 16-year-old convicted of gun possession if HB2067 is adopted by the state legislature this year.

State Rep. Michael Zalewski — along with some powerful allies from the Chicago Police Department

and Mayor Daley’s office — are trying to keep the measure alive this week before the clock runs out on moving the bill from the House to the Senate on Friday.

Under the bill, 15- and 16-year-olds charged with gun possession within 1,000 feet of a school or park would automatically be transferred to the adult felony courts. Under adult jurisdiction, those convicted would be required to spend at least one year behind bars, under a new mandatory minimum sentence that Zalewski ushered through the General Assembly last year.

Zalewski himself is the first to admit that the punishment is “harsh.” But in our latest investigation, Without A (more…)