I was at lunch in Springfield when a close friend called from one of the suburbs of Chicago. He said, “This area has been invaded; I cannot go outside my house for fear of being taken away. They (ICE) are waiting outside construction and other offices. As soon as workers come out who look Latino […]
Larry Golden
Larry Golden is a professor of political and legal studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Posted inSpecial Issues
PROSHANTA K. NANDI Sept. 10, 1933-March 10, 2023
Proshanta Nandi is remembered for the cultural bridges he built between the Indian and larger Springfield community. However, on a personal level as characterized by a good friend of his, “Proshanta Nandi was one of those few people who maintained his integrity forever.” This was clearly consistent with Proshanta’s belief in humanity, equality and justice […]
Posted inOpinion
Boards and commissions matter
The recent controversy over discrimination in the composition of Springfield city boards and commissions goes well beyond the statement by Alderman Joe McMenamin, who attempted to justify the appointments of west side individuals at the exclusion of those living on the east side. The statement reflects an attitude that has historically prevailed and has been […]
Posted inOpinion
Where have all the flowers gone? When will we ever learn?
I recently returned from Los Angeles where my grandson was born six weeks ago. I spent the first few weeks of his life there helping my daughter and caring for him. It broke my heart to leave him and return to Springfield, and I look forward to going back soon. As I thought of my […]
Posted inOpinion
Seeking justice for an innocent man, posthumously
On Saturday, April 28, the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) will honor retired Lt. Paul Echols from the Carbondale Police Department for his persistent quest for a posthumous exoneration of Grover Thompson, now 22 years after the innocent man died in prison. The Thompson case exemplifies the problem of racism in southern Illinois and the horrifying […]
Posted inArts & Culture
It could happen to you…
Children get injured; children get sick. And more often than we might expect, they have medical conditions that even the parents may not be aware of and are yet to be diagnosed. It is every care provider’s fear that something will happen to a child who has been entrusted to his care. So when something […]
Posted inOpinion
Profiles in Courage against wrongful conviction
A special event will take place in Springfield on Monday, May 24, when exoneree Rolando Cruz comes to Springfield to recognize those who helped free him almost 15 years ago. In 1983, 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico was kidnapped from her Naperville home in the middle of the day, taken to a nearby wooded location and brutally […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A tale of heroism in the fight against Illinois corruption
Who among us would have thought of the little east central Illinois town of Paris as a major location for drug dealing and criminal activity? It is hard to believe Paris, Ill., is the site of the national Mafia Pizza Connection Case, in which Rudy Giuliani prosecuted Paris resident Joe Vitale and others. Paris is […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Memoirs of Judge Wood, our man at Wounded Knee
Many people in Springfield, who hold a variety of views about politics and law, have praised the late Harlington Wood as an individual of integrity and accomplishment. Wood’s memoirs, An Unmarked Trail: The Odyssey of a Federal Judge, printed by H. C. Johnson Press in Rockford, should leave most readers with a similar assessment. With […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Could you confess to a crime you did not commit?
In the summer of 1989, a 19-year-old Waverly woman, Melissa Koontz, disappeared late at night after leaving work on the far west-side of Springfield. What followed was a series of events in which Donald “Goose” Johnston and Danny Pocklington, both mildly retarded, confessed to being present when Koontz was killed. Every major detail Johnston and […]
Posted inOpinion
The price of citizenship
The image of the United States is of a country that provides refuge for people who desire freedom and opportunity — yet the latest round of immigration “reform,” which targets “unwanted” or “undesirable” immigrants from south of our border, reinforces a history of immigration practices that have been filled with hostility toward those wanting to […]
Posted inOpinion
The Prosecution Complex
With the growing number of exonerations in recent years, it is obvious that Illinois has seen more than its share of individuals who have been wrongfully convicted and given long prison sentences or the death penalty by our courts. When those convictions and sentences were handed down, law enforcement and prosecutors celebrated the virtues of […]
