Jonathan Bilyk News
Grischow, judge who blocked Pritzker's school mask mandate, selected to serve on Springfield appeals court
The Illinois Supreme Court announced it would assign Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow to serve on the state's Fourth District Appellate Court. Grischow notably issued an order in 2022 declaring Gov. Pritzker had illegally issued 'emergency orders' requiring students wear masks in school
Appeals court says CPS can close Urban Prep; Chicago school closing moratorium doesn't apply to charter schools
The state appeals panel said Cook County Judge Anna Loftus was wrong to block CPS from seizing control at Urban Prep by determining a state law blocking CPS from closing schools until a school board could be elected applied to charter schools, as well as traditional CPS-managed schools
Judge: Democrats can't change 2024 election rules now to block Republicans from fall ballot
A judge in Springfield has permanently blocked the state from enforcing a new law backed by Dems which the judge said unconstitutionally rewrote candidate selection rules and would keep Republican state legislative candidates from the 2024 ballot
Judge who has endorsed statements critical of Chicago Police 'torture' won't step aside from suit accusing cops of torture
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings says a group of Chicago Police detectives haven't done enough to show he can't give them a fair hearing in a lawsuit brought by a man who claims cops tortured him into confessing to double murder. Cummings endorsed reports in '07-'08 accusing cops of 'conspiracy of silence' over 'torture'
Judge nixes ex-Park District lawyer's defamation suit vs Lightfoot over infamous 'big d***' rant
The lawyer had accused former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot over smearing his professional reputation, leading to him resigning, over his handling of settlement talks related to ownership of the city's Columbus statue in 2021
More GOP candidates join court case vs IL Dems over 'candidate slating' ballot blocking law
Democrats told a Springfield judge she needs to can the case, saying the changes to the election rules in the middle of the 2024 election cycle don't violate anyone's rights, and judges have no place deciding if state lawmakers abided by the constitution in deciding how candidates can get on the ballot
'Unconstitutional dragnet:' Class action seeks to shut down IL cops' automated license plate readers
The federal lawsuit asserts the system, established in Cook County and then expanded to the rest of the state to trace criminals and fight crime, unconstitutionally tracks the movements of drivers throughout the state, whether suspected criminals or not
IL Supreme Court rewrites attorney 'discrimination' rule; Critics predict court challenges forthcoming
Supporters say the rule change will create a stronger 'deterrent' to discriminatory and harassing behavior by lawyers in the state. Opponents say the new rule imposes an unconstitutional 'speech code' on Illinois lawyers, and likely will be challenged in court
Chicago says Berwyn blocking investigation of city worker potentially improperly living in suburb
The Chicago Office of the Inspector General has filed suit against the city of Berwyn, claiming the suburban city officials are improperly refusing to turn over complete water bill records which could reveal the identity of a Chicago city worker who may be living in Berwyn in violation of city policy
Family of woman hurt in laundry room gas vapor explosion can't use IL enviro law to sue gas station owners
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled the Illinois Environmental Protection Act doesn't empower individuals to sue gas station owners for injuries caused by leaking underground fuel tanks. A woman had sued the owner of a Willowbrook Speedway station over a 2017 explosion in her laundry room caused by vapors that traveled through the sewer
Evanston's $20M 'reparations' payment program unconstitutional, class action lawsuit says
Under the "reparations" program, the city of Evanston would pay $20 million to black current and former Evanston residents and their "direct descendants," ostensibly to remedy past discrimination. The lawsuit says the program never requires anyone to prove they or their families suffered actual discrimination before cashing in
Cook County jury rejects claims that Zantac caused woman's colon cancer
Drugmakers GSK and Boehringer Ingelman said the verdict in their favor in the first ever trial on the question further exposes the questionable science behind the alleged testing they say falsely showed a link between cancer and ranitidine, the active ingredient formerly in Zantac
'Anti-democracy' law blocked: GOP candidates win court order stopping Dems from using new law to keep them off ballot
A Springfield judge said she believed four prospective Republican state legislative candidates were likely to win their case, accusing the state's Democratic supermajority of unconstitutionally using a hastily enacted law to keep them and other GOP challengers off the ballot in November
Ex-Orland village mgr to pay $30K to end court fight stemming from alleged political secret investigation of mayor
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said he was "totally vindicated" in end of litigation involving former Village Manager Joseph La Margo. La Margo had secretly investigated Pekau over alleged bid rigging, and then accused Pekau of defamation for correctly asserting La Margo had exceeded his authority under village ordinance
The Next Battles: BIPA changes will spark new debates, but may not alter field for other rising class action causes
Lawyers who filled Illinois courts with thousands of class actions under the IL Biometric Information Privacy Act have also generated scads of big money claims under the state's Genetic Info Privacy Act. But while the claims are similar, BIPA reforms may not translate into reduced risk for IL businesses under GIPA
Judge denies TRO sought by GOP candidates to block law that changed election rules to keep GOPers off ballot
The lawsuit, filed by four prospective Republican state House and Senate candidates, say Illinois Democrats violated the right to vote by rushing through a new state elections law that rewrites the candidate selection process in the middle of the 2024 election cycle to protect their incumbents from possible challengers
Foxx to curtail prosecutions vs offenders caught in certain car searches; Fioretti pledges to reverse on 'Day One'
Cook County State's Attorney candidate Robert Fioretti called Kim Foxx's new policy unconstitutional and a 'dereliction of duty' which would make unsafe neighborhoods worse. His opponent in the race to replace Foxx, former judge Eileen O'Neill Burke has not weighed in on the policy critics say will further bind police vs violent crime
IL lawmakers OK bill to limit risk of financial ruin for businesses targeted by biometrics class actions
The Illinois House has passed legislation to reform the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. The legislation would specify that the law's costly damages demands should be applied per person, not per fingerprint or other biometric scan. Biz groups say the reforms are welcome, but more are needed
Judge says psychiatrists must end class action over Board certification maintenance programs
A federal judge has a class action brought by a group of psychiatrists vs American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, in which ABPN was accused of unfairly using monopoly power over certifications to force participation in certification maintenance programs, allegedly encroaching on continuing ed market
Dolton cop says Henyard, police commanders violated law by promoting unqualified officers to sergeant
A Dolton Police officer has filed suit against the village and controversy-plagued Mayor Tiffany Henyard, accusing the village of illegally passing him over for promotion to sergeant and then illegally suspending him without pay for filing a report with a state police oversight board to report a fellow officer who was writing bogus parking tickets