Editorial: Law offers new tool to access information
23.05.12
The brutal death of a local woman more than a decade ago has inspired a new law to keep track of those who have been convicted of a horrendous crime.
Illinois House Bill 263, which went into effect this week, authorizes the Department of State Police to maintain a database of ex-convicts who have served time for first-degree murder. It allows residents to access information about such individuals released from prison since Jan. 1, 2002.
The legislation also is known as Andrea’s Law, named in memory of Andrea Will of Batavia. A student at Eastern Illinois University, Will was strangled to death in 1998. Her ex-boyfriend, Justin Boulay, was convicted of first-degree murder in the case.
This database will act similarly to the state’s registry for sex offenders. Information pertaining to these ex-convicts must remain in the database for 10 years.
Will’s mother, Patty Rosenberg, expressed shock when she learned Boulay would be permitted to move to Hawaii with his wife upon his release from prison. She promoted the idea of allowing residents to find out if convicted murderers were living anywhere near them.
Source: Suburban Life Publications