Ronnie Preston dances in the Illinois Capitol in February 2024 as part of the Native American Summit organized by the Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)

A bill pending in the General Assembly would give back roughly 1,500 acres of park land in DeKalb County to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. That tribe once occupied much of the Great Lakes region but was forcibly removed in the 19th century.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Nov. 28, 2023. (WTTW News)

“In cities like Chicago dealing with the constant drumbeat of gun violence, it has turned these public health officials into battlefield experts,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said. “They’ve seen the aftermath of bullets tearing through bone like it’s tissue paper.”

Members of the Supreme Court sit for a new group portrait following the addition of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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The policy, agreed to by all nine justices, does not appear to impose any significant new requirements on them, and, indeed, they said in an unsigned statement that they have long adhered to ethics standards.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey arrives to the federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Menendez is due in court to answer to federal charges alleging he used his powerful post to secretly advance Egyptian interests and carry out favors for local businessmen in exchange for bribes of cash and gold bars. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth this week have added their voices to the growing number of calls seeking the ouster of New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who’s now facing federal charges in a wide-ranging corruption case.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Sept. 14, 2023. (WTTW News)

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C., this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans.

The Dirksen Courthouse is pictured in Chicago. (Capitol News Illinois)
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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted 12-9 in favor of recommending April Perry to become the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. With the committee’s approval, she is now set for a final confirmation vote before the full Senate.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks to the crowd at Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)

Donald Trump and Bruce Rauner remained popular punching bags for Illinois Democrats as they rallied in Springfield Wednesday, while the party also touted a long list of recent policy wins. Republicans will have their own rally Thursday.

Senate Judiciary Oversight Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a hearing June 13, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The Supreme Court would have to abide by stronger ethics standards under legislation approved on Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The legislation has little chance to make it through the full Senate.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin appears on “Chicago Tonight” on May 23, 2023. (WTTW News)

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin joined “Chicago Tonight” to talk about ethics reforms at the high court, the growing migrant crisis and the possibility that the federal government could default on the national debt.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin has requested that Chief Justice John Roberts or “another Justice whom you designate” appear before his committee next month for a hearing on Supreme Court ethics rules. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images via CNN)

The call comes after Senate Democrats have raised questions about whether the ethical standards of the high court need to be reviewed or change in the wake of a ProPublica report that found Justice Clarence Thomas has gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.

Dick Durbin. (WTTW News)

The concept of the Equal Rights Amendment has been around for a century, but it's getting a renewed push of momentum in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to abortion.

President Joe Biden talks with reporters after speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Jan 20, 2023. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh, File)

Biden should be “embarrassed by the situation,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, adding that the president had ceded the moral high ground on an issue that has already entangled former President Donald Trump. 

(WTTW News)
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Monuments can be created by the stroke of a president’s pen, and undone by the same. As a national historical park, Pullman now has added protections.

Maj. Tom Schueman, left, and Travis Haggerty, right, are trying to help Zainullah Zaki stay in the United States. (Courtesy of Travis Haggerty)

An Afghan interpreter who served alongside U.S. Marines fled the country with his family over safety concerns. Now, his Special Immigrant Visa was denied for the last time. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., grins as he emerges from the closed-door Senate Democratic Caucus leadership election at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Senate Democrats met behind closed doors at the Capitol to choose their leadership team for the new Congress that begins in January. The session was quick and upbeat, with no challengers. 

An abandoned rail spur on 59th Street is inching toward becoming the elevated Englewood Nature Trail. Pictured in 2020. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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Federal officials popped into Chicago Friday to celebrate the awarding of a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the Englewood Nature Trail.