Illinois finishes streamlining criminal laws

Illinois officials have taken the rare step of making state law shorter and simpler.

A rewrite cuts the length of the state criminal code by one-third by deleting outeating, conflicting and confusing material.

Gov. Pat Quinn approved the last piece of the legal overhaul on Monday.

The rewrite was drafted by the CLEAR Commission, which stands for Criminal Law Edit, Alignment and Reform. The process doesn’t change any crimes or punishments, but it simplifies the law by deleting outdated or unconstitutional parts.

Former Gov. James R. Thompson helped lead the commission.