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Retirees Retain Healthcare in ERISA Appeal
Private equity investors are on the hook for health insurance after a federal appeals court ruled that ownership must abide by a benefits agreement made before it acquired the company. Retirees challenged the move by the Carlyle Group to cancel a 2002 agreement reached between an AFL-CIO local and the then-owners of a Riverdale manufacturer that… Read More »
Expungment of Pot Convictions Begins in Cook County
Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberley Foxx made good her promise to clear the court records of those convicted of marijuana offenses, filing motions in the first 1,000 of what officials say could be as many as 700,000 cases ahead of legalization of the drug for recreational use. Calling the effort the most equitable justice reform… Read More »
Federal Discrimination Appeal Fails on Procedure
A Schaumberg woman’s discrimination suit against a federal agency failed when judges in the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled that the US Social Security Agency acted properly when it hired another candidate. Risa Stegall sued the SSA after being denied a position as a service representative. She claimed the agency withdrew an offer… Read More »
Are IDs for Gun Owners Unconstitutional?
An appeals panel in Springfield won’t say, but judges agree that Second Amendment advocates make a compelling argument. That’s because few states are as restrictive as Illinois when it comes to gun ownership. Further, the 4th District Appellate Court said the state hasn’t yet proved that Firearms Ownership Identity Cards are beneficial to the wellbeing… Read More »
Joliet Cop Wins Compensation in National Guard Pay Dispute
A veteran cop who sued the city of Joliet over his deployment in the Illinois National Guard is entitled to the salary and benefits denied him during a stint on voluntary active duty, according to a panel of federal judges. In overturning a district court ruling, they said the Uniformed Service Members Employment and Re-employment… Read More »
High Court Rules on Warrantless DUI Samples
Because cops had more than seven hours to obtain a warrant before they forcibly took samples of blood and urine from Ralph Eubanks, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that evidence used to convict him in a 2009 hit-and-run should have been supressed. This even as justices wrote that such searches are Constitutional when cops have probable… Read More »
RICO Sentence Sticks in Gangland Appeal
Judges in the 7th Circuit Appellate Court upheld the prison sentence given a gang leader in a conspiracy conviction despite the man’s claim that he wasn’t directly responsible for crimes committed on his watch. Ruben Porraz admitted in a plea agreement that his job as head of the 89th Street chapter of the Latin Kings… Read More »
Ballistics Support Appeal of Attempted Murder Charge
A Garfield Park man will be re-sentenced after an appellate panel ruled that the evidence used to win a conviction in 2011 for the attempted murder of a Chicago cop failed to prove his guilt. Judges in the 1st District cited bad ballistics and police testimony in remanding Donta Hudson’s case to the Cook County Circuit… Read More »
Supreme Court Consults Dictionaries in Pension Payout Precedent
A retired state cop will have to pay his ex a portion of the military pension he accrued before their marriage. This according to the Illinois Supreme Court, which went to lexical and legal lengths to set precedent. At issue is whether a pair of lump-sum payments made during the couple’s time together that boosted the… Read More »
Appeals Court Upholds Return of Cash in Pot Bust
A Joliet man is getting the $940 he lost to city cops when they found him in possession of a small amount of marijuana thanks to a ruling in the 3rd District Appellate Court. Anthony Alexander was never criminally charged when police executed a 2017 arrest warrant and seized the cash along with 4.5 grams… Read More »