Nearly four years ago, a Chicago police officer shot a teenager 16 times from 10 feet away. The teen had been behaving erratically while walking down the street, and at the time of the shooting was holding a folding knife with a three-inch blade. He did not obey police commands to drop the weapon, and then was shot.

The Chicago Police initially ruled the shooting justified. However, dashcam footage released 13 months later revealed that the teen was walking [...]

When you hear that someone has been charge with assault, you might imagine a physical attack that ended up with someone going to the hospital. A fight where weapons were involved. Or maybe domestic abuse.

However, under the laws of our state, assault is far easier to commit than that. You don’t even have to touch anyone to receive a charge – that’s reserved for battery. By the letter of the law, all you need to do to assault [...]