Roger A. Agpawa | |
---|---|
Mayor of the City of Markham, Illinois | |
Assumed office September 25, 2018 | |
Preceded by | David Webb Jr. Ernest Blevins (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | 1962or1963(age 60–61) |
Roger A. Agpawa (born 1962/1963) [1] is an American mayor of Markham,Illinois,a small suburb of Chicago. [2] He had served as fire chief in neighboring Country Club Hills,Illinois.
Agpawa has lived in Markham since the 1960s. [3] He worked as the fire chief in neighboring Country Club Hills,Illinois before being hired as the first Black fire chief in Markham. [3]
In April 2018,he won election as mayor succeeding Ernest Blevins (1931–2019) who had been appointed to serve as acting mayor by the City Council after the removal of mayor David Webb Jr. who was facing indictment on bribery charges. [4] Having been convicted in 1999 of a felony mail fraud in a federal health insurance case,he is one of the first convicted felons to have been elected mayor. Because civil rights such as voting and holding public office are denied to convicted felons in many US states,experts stated that he would be ineligible to serve in the highest office in that city. He accepted responsibility for a crime 20 years earlier,completed his sentence,and has become a model citizen. The remedy that allowed Agpawa to take office was a “Restoration of Rights of Citizenship”signed on Sept 14,2018,by the State of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. Agpawa was sworn into office on September 25,2018.
On September 28,2018,a Cook County judge vacated his earlier order that had prevented Agpawa from serving as mayor. A representative for the Cook County state's attorney's office said Agpawa found a “legally sufficient”way to hold office. Nothing like this has ever happened before,and the swearing-in ceremony was held.
In addition to serving residents of Markham,Agpawa is prominent among south suburban municipal officials. He's well known to legislators,politicians and business leaders through his role as fire chief. [5] [6]
In April 2021,he was re-elected to a 2nd term. [7]
On August 26,2021,the Supreme Court of Illinois published an opinion that the appellate court erred in holding that Roger Agpawa was not a qualified candidate for mayor of the City of Markham due to a 1999 federal felony mail fraud conviction,even though he obtained a document purporting to restore his citizenship rights from then-Governor Bruce Rauner,a Republican,in 2018. [8]
A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness,whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law to describe an offense that resulted in the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods,to which additional punishments including capital punishment could be added;other crimes were called misdemeanors. Following conviction of a felony in a court of law,a person may be described as a felon or a convicted felon.
Disfranchisement,also disenfranchisement or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage of a person or group of people,or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. Disfranchisement can also refer to the revocation of power or control of a particular individual,community or being to the natural amenity they have;that is to deprive of a franchise,of a legal right,of some privilege or inherent immunity. Disfranchisement may be accomplished explicitly by law or implicitly through requirements applied in a discriminatory fashion,through intimidation,or by placing unreasonable requirements on voters for registration or voting. High barriers to entry to the political competition can disenfranchise political movements.
Markham is a city and a south suburb of Chicago in Cook County,Illinois,United States. The population was 11,661 at the 2020 census.
The U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16,2021,Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. attorney.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia,the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston,although from 1873 to 1915,it was also required by state law to hold sessions in Charles Town in the state's Eastern Panhandle. The court also holds special sittings at various locations across the state.
The Cook County Democratic Party is an American county-level political party organization which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics since the 1930s. It relies on an organizational structure of a ward or township committeeperson to elect candidates. At the height of its influence under Richard J. Daley in the 1960s when political patronage in employment was endemic in American cities,it was one of the most powerful political machines in American history. By the beginning of the 21st century the party had largely ceased to function as a machine due to the legal dismantling of the patronage system under the Shakman decrees issued by the federal court in Chicago. The current Chair is Toni Preckwinkle,who is also the elected Cook County Board president.
Iris Y. Martinez is an American politician and administrator. In 2020,she was elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She previously served as a member of the Illinois Senate,representing the 20th district from 2003 until becoming clerk. A member of the Democratic Party,she rose to Assistant Majority Leader in the State Senate. As court clerk and as a state senator,she is the first Latina to have held either of those offices.
William Frank Boyland Jr. is an American convicted felon and former politician from the state of New York. A Democrat,Boyland represented District 55 (Brooklyn) in the New York State Assembly and was first elected in a 2003 special election. He forfeited his Assembly seat on March 6,2014 due to his conviction on federal felony charges related to extortion,bribery,and official corruption,and he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In the United States,a sheriff is the chief of law enforcement of a county. Sheriffs are usually either elected by the populace or appointed by an elected body.
The Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights is intended to protect American law enforcement personnel from investigation and prosecution arising from conduct during the official performance of their duties. It provides them with privileges based on due process in additional to those normally provided to other citizens. It was first set forth in 1974,following Supreme Court rulings in the cases of Garrity v. New Jersey (1967) and Gardner v. Broderick (1968). It does not prohibit police departments from subjecting officers to drug tests.
Loss of rights due to criminal conviction refers to the practice in some countries of reducing the rights of individuals who have been convicted of a criminal offence. The restrictions are in addition to other penalties such as incarceration or fines. In addition to restrictions imposed directly upon conviction,there can also be collateral civil consequences resulting from a criminal conviction,but which are not imposed directly by the courts as a result of the conviction.
Joseph Peter Ganim is an American Democratic politician,former attorney,and convicted felon who is currently serving as the mayor of Bridgeport,Connecticut. He was elected mayor of the city six times serving from 1991 to 2003,when he resigned after being convicted on federal felony corruption charges. In 2015,Ganim mounted a successful political comeback and was again elected Bridgeport mayor. Ganim was sworn in as mayor on December 1,2015. Ganim has twice unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor of Connecticut,running in 1994 and 2018.
Jill Annette Niederhauser Parrish is an American lawyer who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. She served as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 2003 to 2015.
Allen Hayes Loughry,II is a former justice on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Troy Xavier Kelley is an American attorney,businessman,politician,and convicted felon who served as the 10th Washington State Auditor from 2013 to 2017,and is a member of the Democratic Party. He is a lieutenant colonel JAG officer in the Washington National Guard. Kelley was a member of the Washington House of Representatives,representing the 28th Legislative District from 2007 to 2013. In 2017 he was convicted of multiple counts of possession of stolen property,making false declarations in a court proceeding and tax fraud.
Corruption in Illinois has been a problem from the earliest history of the state. Electoral fraud in Illinois pre-dates the territory's admission to the Union in 1818. Illinois had the third most federal criminal convictions for public corruption between 1976 and 2012,behind New York and California. A study published by the University of Illinois Chicago in 2022 ranked Illinois as the second most corrupt state in the nation,with 4 out of the last 11 governors serving time in prison.
In the United States,a person may have their voting rights suspended or withdrawn due to the conviction of a criminal offense. The actual class of crimes that results in disenfranchisement vary between jurisdictions,but most commonly classed as felonies,or may be based on a certain period of incarceration or other penalty. In some jurisdictions disfranchisement is permanent,while in others suffrage is restored after a person has served a sentence,or completed parole or probation. Felony disenfranchisement is one among the collateral consequences of criminal conviction and the loss of rights due to conviction for criminal offense. In 2016,6.1 million individuals were disenfranchised on account of a conviction,2.47% of voting-age citizens. As of October 2020,it was estimated that 5.1 million voting-age US citizens were disenfranchised for the 2020 presidential election on account of a felony conviction,1 in 44 citizens. As suffrage rights are generally bestowed by state law,state felony disenfranchisement laws also apply to elections to federal offices.
Felony disenfranchisement in Florida is currently a contentious political issue in Florida. Though the general principle of felony disenfranchisement is not in dispute,the disenfranchisement of people who had been convicted of a felony and have served their sentence —that includes prison,bail and parole —but continue being barred from voting if they have outstanding fines,fees or restitution obligations is in contention. Prior to January 8,2019,when Amendment 4 came into effect,people convicted of a felony effectively lost their right to vote for life,as it could only be restored by the governor as an act of clemency,which rarely occurred. Florida was one of four states with a lifetime ban,the others being Iowa,Kentucky and Virginia.
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A onetime fire chief in Country Club Hills, Agpawa, now 58, was convicted in 1999 of participating in a federal health-insurance scam.