Loyola Report Reveals Undue Punitive Effect of Gun Possession Convictions on Young Black Men in Cook County
As the summer ends, gun violence continues to dominate headlines in Chicago; so far this year, there have been over 2,000 people hurt or killed by shootings. As the city continues to grieve and look for effective and equitable solutions to gun issues, the importance of data-driven policymaking is critical to ensure that the causes of this problem are not further entrenched. To this end, a group of researchers from Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy, and Practice published a report, Sentences Imposed on Those Convicted of Felony Illegal Possession of a Firearm in Illinois: Examining the Characteristics and Trends in Sentences for Illegal Possession of a Firearm. The study details arrest and sentencing data, re-arrest rates for those sentenced to prison and probation, and the geographic concentration of gun possession arrests. Specifically, the researchers evaluate the effects of a 2011 law, which subjected those convicted of carrying a “loaded and accessible” firearm to mandatory prison sentences, and a 2018 law, which created the probationary “First Time Gun Offender Program” for people between ages 18-20 convicted of firearm possession for the first time.
The data illustrates that escalating convictions for firearm possession have unnecessarily criminalized and incarcerated people, overwhelmingly young Black men, without reducing gun violence or increasing public safety.
Types of Firearm Possession Charges
There are several classes of Unlawful Use of a Weapon (UUW) felony possession offenses, but low-level Class 4 felony possession is especially notable for its impact on young Black men. Of all firearm possession convictions in Illinois from 2008 to 2019, 34% were for Class 4 felony possession. Not all Class 4 gun possession charges carry mandatory sentences, but the most commonly prosecuted offenses do. Class 4 allegations are usually charged as “Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon,” which means a person is alleged to have “any firearms or firearm ammunition,” does not have a Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card, and the gun is “loaded and immediately accessible” (720 ILCS 5/24-3.1 (a)). This covers nearly all situations where people carry guns without proper licensing for self-defense purposes. This common kind of Class 4 possession charge carries a mandatory 1-year prison sentence — one of the only mandatory sentences for a Class 4 felony in the entire Illinois Code.
Of all Class 4 felony possession convictions in all of Illinois, the report shows, 33% stemmed from 11 of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods and 76% of convictions occurred in Cook County. Statewide, 55% of people convicted were Black teenagers and young men between the ages of 18 and 24 years old (34% were between 18 and 20); in Cook County, 58% of people convicted of Class 4 felonies were young Black men under 24 years old. To add necessary context, only 14.6% of Illinois’ population identify as Black.
Class 2 and 3 UUW convictions, referred to as “felon in possession offenses,” are treated separately from Class 4 felonies because all convictions for Class 2 and 3 carry mandatory prison sentences. From 2008 to 2019, 32% of all statewide firearm possession convictions were for Class 2 “felon in possession” offenses, which are when someone previously convicted of a “forcible felony” is allegedly found in possession of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/2-8). A shocking 83% of the people prosecuted and convicted of Class 2 felonies, according the the Loyola study, were Black and 79% of all Illinois Class 2 convictions were from Cook County. During the same period, 15% of all gun possession convictions were for Class 3 charges, which allege that someone previously convicted of any felony that is not a “forcible felony” is found in possession of a gun — 64% of those convicted of Class 3 felonies were Black. Unlike Class 2 offenses, 59% of statewide Class 3 convictions occurred outside Cook County. Of all those sentenced to prison for either a Class 2 or Class 3 conviction, 75% were Black men and 35% were Black young men between the ages of 18 and 24 years old.
Illinois’ “Loaded and Accessible” Law Makes Young Black Men More Likely to be Convicted and Incarcerated
So far, this data confirms that Black men, specifically young Black men, are disproportionately likely to be arrested and convicted of firearm possession charges and sentenced to prison. The researchers found that this clear injustice has been exacerbated by the 2011 “loaded and accessible” law change, and data shows that the 2018 First Time Gun Offender Program, though imperfect, is successful in reducing the number of young men incarcerated for gun charges. In 2010, 30% of the 18 to 20 year olds convicted of a Class 4 UUW charge were sentenced to prison in Cook County (along with 25% of 21 to 24 year olds and 20% of those 25 years or older). By 2016, over 90% of 18 to 20 year olds who were convicted were incarcerated. Following the implementation of the First Time Gun Offender Program, however, which offers probation instead of incarceration, the rate at which young Black men were incarcerated for Class 4 convictions decreased significantly: by 2019, 33% of 18 to 20 year olds convicted were sentenced to prison, going from the most likely to the least likely age group to be incarcerated for Class 4 firearm possession convictions.
Incarceration is Ineffective at Mitigating Harm or Violence
The 2018, implementation of the First Time Gun Offender program revealed that higher incarceration rates and harsher sentences are ineffective at mitigating occurrences of violence. Examining the rate of rearrest within three years of the end of a sentence of incarceration or probation is one critical way to measure the impact of the current system’s response to gun violence. The report found that of individuals who were convicted and released from prison from 2011 to 2015 for Class 4 possession in Cook County, 30% were rearrested for allegations of “violent crime” within 3 years; of individuals sentenced to probation in the same time period, 25% were rearrested for a “violent crime” within 3 years.
Among those released from a sentence of probation or prison for a Class 4 possession conviction, according to the study, only 5-8% of people who were rearrested were alleged to have committed a “violent crime.”
Incarceration, when compared with probation, was less effective overall at preventing rearrest for allegations of “violent felonies.”
Statewide Laws Disproportionately Hurt Cook County
In addition to the ineffectiveness of incarceration at reducing rearrest rates, the Loyola report emphasizes that the 2011 law change and the 2018 law change, decisions made by the Illinois General Assembly, almost exclusively affect Cook County. Following the implementation of the 2011 “loaded and accessible” law, the rate of Class 4 prison sentences in Cook County skyrocketed from around 25% in 2010 to over 60% in 2011 while the rate outside Cook County remained nearly constant, at 25% in 2010 and at 30% in 2011. Additionally, following the implementation of the First Time Gun Offender program, the incarceration rate for Class 4 convictions in Cook County dropped from around 70% in 2017 to under 40% in 2018; outside of Cook County, the incarceration rate rose from 22% in 2017 to 25% in 2018.
This data reveal that legislative decisions made by representatives from everywhere in Illinois primarily and overwhelmingly affect one specific group of people—young Black men in Cook County—and that incarceration is ineffective in reducing gun violence in Illinois.
What, then, should be done about gun violence in Chicago?
According to the report authors, the most urgent need is to extend the First Time Gun Offender program indefinitely and make it an available option for the rest of the population, in addition to 18 to 20 year olds. Though probation is not a desirable long-term solution, it is preferable to incarceration. Likewise, the policing and enforcement of gun possession laws should clearly be reevaluated. Data, including the data in this report and data released by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, suggests that increasing arrests and convictions for gun possession does not reduce the frequency of shootings. In an effort to increase public safety, we must decrease reliance on police and prisons as a punitive measure and assess the role the police play (or don’t) in violence prevention.
Chicago cannot afford to continue to criminalize such a high proportion of its young and Black population for simply being in the vicinity of a gun.
Mandatory incarceration should no longer be applicable for anyone convicted of Class 4 firearm possession, which will require the removal of the 2011 “loaded and accessible” provision. At the very least, that would reduce the impact of incarceration and criminalization on a substantial portion of Chicago’s youth population, reducing barriers to employment and financial stability, along with other collateral consequences for communities at large. This report is another piece of evidence that “tough on crime” agendas are wrong and proven to fail to reduce crime rates or protect public safety, but instead reinforce systems of anti-Black racism. In Cook County, 33% of Class 4 UUW convictions and 30% of Class 2 and 3 convictions come from 11 Chicago neighborhoods, and these 11 communities. These same neighborhoods are plagued with 19% of reported “violent crime” and 28% of all murders in the state. The Illinois General Assembly, even those with constituencies outside of Cook County, must finally acknowledge the harm caused by over-criminalization from gun possession laws.
Jurisdictions — Cook County, specifically — must commit to investing in real, non-punitive alternatives to incarceration and probation for people arrested for gun charges. While this report shows that probation is more effective than incarceration at reducing rearrest rates, transformative and restorative justice approaches or similar measures that do not cycle people through the criminal legal system are likely to be even more effective are mitigating harm than probation. As Cook County and Chicago continue to grapple with gun violence, one thing is certain: non-punitive proposals are much less destructive to communities than traditional forms of punishment, such as probation and incarceration.
Contributor: Marc Motter is a Chicago Appleseed Undergraduate Intern and rising fourth-year Philosophy & Economics major at the University of Chicago.