Article Summary

• A federal judge in Springfield says the Illinois State Board of Elections is not required to hand over the state’s complete voter registration database, including sensitive personal information, to the Department of Justice.
• The Trump administration says it needs the information to determine whether states are complying with federal laws requiring them to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter rolls.
• The administration has filed similar suits in 29 other states and Washington, D.C. In every case that has been decided so far, judges have ruled against the administration.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.

SPRINGFIELD – A federal judge ruled late Friday that Illinois is not required to hand over its complete, unredacted voter registration data, including sensitive personal information, to the Trump administration.

In a 14-page opinion, Judge Colleen Lawless reached the same conclusion as judges in 18 other federal districts and one appellate circuit who have ruled in nearly identical cases. She found that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not give the U.S. attorney general “general auditing power” to demand voter data.

No court has yet ruled in favor of the administration’s demand for voter data.

She also said the Department of Justice failed to provide any factual basis for suggesting state officials have done anything wrong in maintaining the state’s voter registration database and that it offered no legitimate purpose for seeking the information.

“The Attorney General’s demand is deficient in both its stated basis and purpose and cannot be enforced against (Illinois State Board of Elections Executive Director Bernadette) Matthews,” Lawless wrote.

Demand for data

The Justice Department began demanding access to states’ unredacted voter registration rolls shortly after President Donald Trump took office for a second term in 2025. 

The lists include sensitive personal information such as dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — what election law expert David Becker has referred to as “the Holy Trinity of identity theft.”

In August 2025, the state elections board gave DOJ a copy of its statewide voter registration database, with sensitive information redacted. That is the same information it makes available to candidate committees and political parties, but lawyers for DOJ said that was insufficient.

In its petitions, DOJ said it needed the complete database to ascertain whether states were meeting their legal duties under federal laws to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter rolls and to take affirmative steps to purge the rolls of ineligible voters, including noncitizens.

DOJ cited a provision of the Civil Rights Act giving the attorney general authority to “demand in writing” from state election officials any “record or paper” related to an election that has taken place in the previous 22 months.

But attorneys representing outside groups that intervened in the Illinois case argued that was only a pretext and that DOJ’s real purpose was to purge state voter rolls of suspected noncitizens by cross-checking their rolls with a national citizenship database.

Court ruling

In her opinion, Lawless did not address that alternate theory about DOJ’s motives. Instead, she focused on the agency’s stated reasons.

She said the Civil Rights Act does not give federal investigators blanket authority to demand records from state election officials and that it requires them to show both a “basis and purpose” for the demand.

Lawyers for the Justice Department argued they met that obligation simply by citing the legal authority that the statute gives to demand the information. But Lawless rejected that argument.

“If the Attorney General could simply justify his demand with a statement of any purpose whatsoever, the requirement that he specify his purpose (and his basis) would be pointless and it would provide him with unfettered authority to demand voting records,” Lawless wrote.

She said the Civil Rights Act of 1960 was enacted to combat racial discrimination in voting and that a demand for records under that law “must relate to Congress’s rationale behind granting the Attorney General investigatory authority over certain federal voting records.”

“Congress did not confer a general auditing power to the DOJ over state election officials,” she wrote.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.  

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — The YWCA announced it’s receiving more than $250,000 in grant money to fund its long-time Re-Entry Services Program.

The Re-entry Services Program helps incarcerated adults as they re-enter society. The program helps them get jobs, find homes, and more.

The grant came from the Restore, Reinvest, Renew Program, also known as R3. This grant is in addition to their pre-release programming offered in three central Illinois correctional facilities, which is funded by a separate grant.

YWCA has been providing these services for more than ten years and hopes it can continue to do so with the incoming money from the grant.

“We are incredibly grateful to once again receive support through the State’s R3 program,” said Liz German, CEO of YWCA. “We are proud to expand our work in removing barriers and advancing equity for systematically marginalized individuals.”

WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — A new candidate is announcing his campaign for Bloomington City Council Ward 8.

Mark Adams, an active member of the Twin Cities community, says he brings eight years of economic and community development experience as an AICP-certified Urban Planner.

“I am a proud Redbird alum, Unit 5 School Board Member, President and Co-Founder of the Bloomington-Normal Community Land Trust, Co-Chair of the McLean County Housing Coalition, and I am an AICP Certified Urban Planner with eight years of experience in economic and community development. I have a passion for community service,” said Adams in a press release.

Adams plans to focus on three main points during his campaign. He wants to prioritize making more affordable housing in Bloomington, find tax relief for senior citizens and work to make childcare more affordable in Bloomington.

Currently, Kent Lee holds the Ward 8 seat, and it is unclear whether he is running for re-election.

WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — One man is dead after being hit by a utility vehicle while riding a bike on Sunday.

Officers were called at 5:05 p.m. on Aug. 2 to the 1900 block of West Washington Street to a report of a utility vehicle hitting a cyclist, McLean County Coroner Kathleen Yoder said.

Yoder’s office was called to the scene, where she said a man was pronounced dead.

No further information was given on the vehicle’s driver or the cause of the crash. The man’s identity was also not released.

The incident remains under investigation.

WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.

Article Summary

• Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Children’s Social Media Safety Act — a bill designed to protect children online and limit their access to addictive social media algorithms.
• The bill would require social media companies to verify a child’s age on the device’s operating system and use stricter features for minors like limiting location-sharing and nighttime notifications.
• Supporters of the bill say limiting access to addictive algorithms that keep kids glued to their screens will help improve their mental health. 
• The bill was generally opposed by tech groups. 

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. 

Gov. JB Pritzker signed sweeping regulations Friday aimed at social media companies and cracking down on “addictive algorithms” that keep kids glued to their screens. 

House Bill 5511, known as the Children’s Social Media Safety Act, imposes a series of requirements on social media companies and how they are to interact with users under 18 years old. The law, which will take effect in 2028, was one of Pritzker’s top priorities during the spring legislative session and received unanimous support in both chambers.

“Big social media companies have intentionally designed their platforms to keep kids online for as long as possible,” Pritzker said before signing the bill at an event in Chicago. “Their algorithms learn what captures a child’s attention, which most often seems to be anger and euphoria, and then the algorithm keeps feeding them more of it. Why? The almighty dollar. They feed our kids an unrealistic picture of life and sell them products and agendas to achieve it.”

Under the law, social media platforms must confirm a user’s age through the device’s operating system. When devices are set up for children, parents would set the child’s age, which would automatically trigger certain restrictions required by the state. 

To limit the addictive nature of social media feeds, the law prohibits companies from using a minor’s viewing history or data stored on the device to determine what shows up in their feeds. Instead, feeds for minors will only be allowed to show information the user requested or searched for or was posted by a creator the user follows. Kids will also be able to see media that is a direct, private message to them.

“These are common sense protections,” Pritzker said. “They don’t prevent young people from connecting with one another or their loved ones online. They don’t censor anyone. They take decisions about children’s online safety away from the companies and put it back in the hands of parents.”

Stronger default privacy settings are also required for minors, including shielding a minor’s precise location and limiting digital currency transactions. Social media sites and apps would also be prohibited from sending notifications to minors between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

“What we’re seeing is shrinking attention spans, rising depression rates, and in kids, sacrificing sleep to scroll long past when they should be asleep, is a real danger,” House bill sponsor Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, said.

The Illinois attorney general’s office would enforce the law. Violators would be liable for fines up to $2,500 for each child for unintentional violations and up to $7,500 per child for intentional violations.

“It is important that we balance the guardrails that keep young people safe — guardrails that technology companies should have implemented from the very beginning,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said. 

Raoul has joined lawsuits against both Meta and TikTok, alleging the companies have addictive designs that exploit children. 

The law was generally opposed by tech companies. During testimony in committees this spring, lobbyists for the companies raised concerns that the bill would violate First Amendment rights and potentially trigger lawsuits against the state. 

The final version of the bill was opposed by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Motion Picture Association, tech company advocacy organization TechNet, and the American Civil Liberties Union. 

“Innovation and child safety are not competing interests,” bill sponsor Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago, said. “You do not have to choose between technological progress and protecting children. The greatest innovations solve problems; they do not create them.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — The offseason was the shortest in Illinois State football history.

But the players are glad it is over. About six-and-a-half months after playing in the FCS national title game, the Redbirds are back to work for a new season.

ISU opened fall camp on Thursday with nine starters back from the team that finished as the national runner-up in January.

“I think last year we had the expectations. People thought we could still bust. But now we are all boom. We are excited about that,” said senior linebacker Tye Niekamp. “. This is a team that is really talented. We are light years ahead of where we were last year. We are ready to play, the guys are ready to go. We are a lot smarter than we were last year. There’s a lot of excitement right now.”

ISU won four playoff games on the road to earn a trip to Nashville and play for the FCS championship.

“I feel like the standard is definitely higher,” said sophomore receiver Luke Mailander. “I think the standard last year was to get to the national championship game. But now that we went there, we definitely have to get back.”

Article Summary

• • Illinois election officials said in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice that they are complying with all federal requirements to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter registration rolls.
  • The letter is in response to an earlier threat by the Justice Department to prosecute state and local election officials for failing to keep noncitizens off the rolls or preventing them from voting.

• The Trump administration has been trying to exert more federal control over U.S. elections, but courts so far have blocked many of those efforts.

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.  

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois State Board of Elections told the U.S. Department of Justice this week it is complying with all federal laws governing voter registration and the maintenance of voter rolls, and it pushed back against threats by the Trump administration to prosecute state and local authorities for allowing illegal election activity.

“The Board and Illinois election authorities take very seriously their responsibility to maintain up-to-date and accurate voter registration records while ensuring that no eligible voters are disenfranchised by being mistakenly removed from the rolls,” Marni Malowitz, the state board’s general counsel, said in a letter Monday to the U.S. Department of Justice. “Illinois’s comprehensive list maintenance framework, consistent with the (National Voter Registration Act), ensures free and fair elections.”

Read the letter (PDF).

Malowitz’s letter was a response to a letter the Justice Department sent July 7 to top election administrators in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., threatening them with criminal prosecution for allowing noncitizens to remain on their voter rolls or to cast ballots.

That feds’ letter also demanded that state officials reply within five days by explaining in detail what procedures they use to regularly scrub their voter rolls of ineligible or inactive voters. 

Seeking federal control

Since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, his administration has made numerous attempts to exert more federal control over elections. Toward that end, Trump has frequently repeated disproven claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden. 

In March 2025, Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to work with other federal agencies in compiling a national list of confirmed U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. 

He also has directed the Postal Service to pursue regulatory changes that would prohibit the transmission of mail-in ballots to or from anyone who is not on that list, although that effort has been stalled by multiple legal challenges.

Trump is also pushing for federal legislation that would require voters to show documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote as well as photo identification before casting a ballot. However, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, has stalled in the Senate, where it does not have enough votes for passage.

Meanwhile, the administration is also suing Illinois and dozens of other states seeking access to their complete, unredacted statewide voter registration databases, including sensitive personal information such as dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.

As of Monday, July 27, federal judges in 17 district courts and one appellate court had ruled against the administration, finding DOJ does not have statutory authority to demand such records. No court has yet ruled in DOJ’s favor on the issue. A federal judge in Illinois, however, has not yet ruled on the state board’s motion to dismiss the case.

State board’s response

Responding to DOJ’s July 7 letter threatening prosecution, Malowitz began by noting that DOJ “does not identify any credible evidence of voter fraud or other impropriety in an Illinois election. Nor does it contain any allegation of a violation of federal law by an Illinois election official.”

The letter goes on to argue that the U.S. Constitution “assigns primary responsibility for federal elections to the States, subject only to preemption by Congress.”

In Illinois, the letter states, responsibility for administering elections lies with the State Board of Elections, an independent, bipartisan agency whose members “are not subject to oversight by or direction from public officials or political bodies.”

“Entrusting election supervision to an independent, bipartisan board exemplifies Illinois’s commitment to ensuring public confidence in elections,” the letter states. “The Board, through its bipartisan actions, safeguards against voter fraud, voter suppression, voter confusion, and public corruption.”

Among the federal laws Congress has passed that impose responsibilities on states, the letter notes, are the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

NVRA requires states to make voter registration widely available in places where people engage in other routine interactions with government, such as applying for or renewing their driver’s license or state identification card. 

It also provides a uniform voter registration application form that requires applicants to attest, under penalty of perjury, that they are U.S. citizens, over the age of 18 and meet the state’s residency requirements for voter eligibility.

HAVA also requires that mail-in voter registration forms include a line where applicants check a box to indicate whether they are a U.S. citizen.

The letter states that voter registration forms in Illinois comply with those standards and, “If an applicant does not make the required certification of citizenship, the voter registration application is denied.”

The letter also states that Illinois election officials routinely check their rolls against several state and federal data sources, including data from the Department of Corrections to identify voters who are incarcerated for felony convictions and records from the Illinois Department of Public Health to identify registered voters who have recently died. Illinois also participates in the multistate Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, whose members share voter registration and motor vehicle information to track voters who move from one member state to another.

Finally, the letter states that local election authorities routinely update their lists by mailing direct notices to voters to determine whether registered voters are still living at the same address.

“Illinois’s multilayered approach to voter list maintenance is working,” Malowitz said in the letter to DOJ. “This commitment precludes establishing the specific intent and/or willfulness required for criminal liability under the laws cited in your letter.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.  

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Sean Grayson’s application for a medical release from prison was denied by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

The former sheriff’s deputy convicted of murdering Sonya Massey was sentenced six months ago to 20 years in prison for second-degree murder. He asked to be released under a law that allows terminally ill inmates to leave prison and spend their remaining time at home.

Grayson has been battling Stage 3 colon cancer since 2023, which has since advanced to Stage 4 and spread to his rectum, liver and lungs.

Neither Grayson nor his lawyers attended Friday’s hearing. The Massey family did attend, and they were allowed to give victim impact statements. Sonya’s parents, son and cousin spoke.

It was up to a three-person panel to decide whether Grayson is released, but 70% of cases that have gone before the Review Board in the last five years end with denials of prisoners’ applications for early release.

Grayson’s case ultimately ended among the many cases that end in denial, as the panel voted unanimously to deny him release. Following the vote, the Massey family hosted a press conference to react to this development.

The following updates were observed by a reporter while watching the hearing. They are not an official or unofficial transcript of the proceedings, and they are not so thorough as to be interpreted as including everything that was said or seen.

9 a.m.

Play Video

Illinois Prisoner Review Board to decide whether Sean Grayson is released from prison early

Sean Grayson’s application will be the first of five that the Illinois Prisoner Review Board hears on Friday.

The hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m., will include victim impact statements from the Massey family. After hearing these statements, the board will deliberate in private before voting in public on whether to release Grayson.

The panelists are Jared Bohland, Rodger Heaton, Robin Schoffner.

9:15 a.m.

The Massey family is entering the boardroom. Sonya’s parents, James Wilburn and Donna Massey, cousin Sontae Massey and children Malachi and Summer Massey sat down at the table directly in front of the panelists.

9:30 a.m.

The hearing began with an explanation of the proceedings and introductions by the panelists.

Shortly after, the Massey family began speaking in opposition to Grayson’s release. The four were administered under oath before Sontae Massey began speaking first.

“I’m not sure that I can write, speak or articulate anything that can encompass the devastation that Sean Grayson has created for our family,” Sontae said. “We should all be in agreement upon one simple concept: no one is above the law. It is noteworthy that I believe he received a compassionate sentence from the jury because of his condition.”

Sontae added that at no point did Grayson or his attorneys show remorse for killing his cousin.

“Make him serve that sentence,” Sontae concluded his speech with.

9:42 p.m.

Malachi Massey spoke next.

“He killed my mom in cold blood. Before he even murdered her, he had no remorse. He didn’t wonder if she was ok. There are so many things that could have happened differently in that situation,” Malachi said. “He was not thinking about his medical situation when he did what he did, or my mother’s either. She had lupus and kidney disease. So why should we care about his medical needs when my mom was trying to get her medical needs, and she can’t do that anymore?”

9:46 a.m.

James Wilburn was the next member of the Massey family to speak.

He asked everyone in the boardroom who was opposed to Grayson’s release to stand. Many people in the audience did.

“One of the requirements of this act [the Joe Coleman Act] was that the sentencing judge had to take into account the medical condition of the killer Grayson. Judge Cadigan did that,” Wilburn said. “I think that with him being charged with first-degree murder and only sentenced for second-degree murder was a serious of miscarriage of justice already, but he gave him a 20-year sentence that he had the capability of giving him.”

Wilburn added the murder of his daughter has “shocked the conscience of our nation” and that the board has the opportunity to “right the wrong that’s been done to this family.”

“I would hope that this board today would not consider letting this animal out, and letting him out upon the streets of Sangamon County,” Wilburn added. “If he is released today on this compassionate release — he showed my child no compassion. His partner testified against him. The only thing Deputy Farley should have done that day was arrest that killer Grayson. He should not have had the ten days the grand jury had.”

Judge Cadigan gave him the complete 20 years,” Wilburn concluded. “Please do not let this killer out on the streets of Sangamon County.”

9:55 a.m.

Donna Massey then spoke, with Sontae joining her at her side when she became emotional.

“Letting Sean Grayson out in nine months of a 20-year sentence? For compassion?” she said. “She was a young mother of two, and she got shot in the face for saying ‘I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.’ He’s a demon.”

Donna spoke of her daughter’s mental health history and pointed out that Grayson already knew Sonya, since she was calling police constantly on the belief that someone was trying to kill her.

“He’s a menace to society. He should not be walking around,” Donna said, losing her composure. “He will kill you if you’re black.”

Donna concluded her speech and left the boardroom with Sontae. Wilburn and Malachi remained at the speakers’ table.

10 a.m.

The hearing concluded and the panelists retired to begin deliberations in private.

10:15 a.m.

The panel returned to the boardroom and announced a unanimous denial of Sean Grayson’s petition for release. This announcement drew some applause from members of the audience.

The boardroom then emptied ahead of the next case the panel will consider.

The Massey family will host a press conference at 11 a.m. to provide their response to the board’s decision.

11 a.m.

The Massey family met with members of the media following the denial of Sean Grayson’s petition for release.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — Some unexpected pests have temporarily closed the McLean County Arts Center.

Fleas were found while staff was cleaning out a neighboring property recently acquired by the art center, according to its Facebook post.

The art center has been closed while a pest control company completes treatment and the building is thoroughly cleaned.

“We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” the post said.

A reopening date is expected to be announced as soon as the center is ready to safely welcome people back in.

WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — A former Chiddix Junior High teacher was back in court Wednesday and asked a judge to allow him to get out of jail while allegations of grooming and child porn possession are pending.

Andrew “Drew” Miller, 41, appeared in McLean County Circuit Court for the request as well as to enter a not guilty plea to additional counts filed after he was initially arrested.

Last month, a judge sided with McLean County prosecutors who asked that Miller be held in custody at the county jail while the allegations were pending. Under the state’s Pretrial Fairness Act, a person is allowed to ask a judge to reconsider that ruling.

A hearing for that will be on Aug. 6, according to online court records. Little else happened during the brief hearing. A trial date has not yet been set.

In all, Miller faces 56 charges that include allegations of grooming, possession of child sex materials and indecent solicitation of a child.

He was arrested June 17 at a traffic stop, after a warrant for his arrest was put out. Initially, he faced 42 counts, but 14 more were added after another victim came forward against Miller.

Miller was a cheerleading coach at University High School and Lexington High School, as well as a teacher for Chiddix. Prosecutors say this is how Miller found and contacted his victims.

WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.