In People v. Rizzo, 2016 IL 118599, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned a circuit court ruling that refusing to allow supervision for aggravated speeding is too harsh a penalty compared to those for other Class A misdemeanors.

At issue in Rizzo was whether Illinois' sentencing guidelines for aggravated speeding are unconstitutional. The Unified Code of Corrections did not allow court supervision for those charged with violating Illinois' aggravated speeding law. (That provision has since been amended to allow supervision for some, but not all, drivers charged with aggravated speeding.)

Wheeling attorney Ilia Usharovich argued successfully in Cook County Circuit Court that the provision violates the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution. Many other moving violations allow courts to place a motorist under supervision; the only penalty for aggravated speeding at the time was a conviction for a Class A misdemeanor. The supreme court disagreed with the trial court, however, opining among other things that the "collateral consequences of conviction…do not qualify as part of the 'penalty' for purposes of proportionate penalty analysis."

Read more about Rizzo, including arguments made in support of the circuit court ruling, in the August Illinois Bar Journal.