Jonathan Bilyk News
Democrats can't persuade Cook County elections board to ignore Springfield judge, kick Republican from ballot
Republican candidate Ron Andermann can advance to face Democrat Nicolle Grasse in the race for 53rd House District seat. Democrats had argued the Cook County Electoral Board could ignore a Springfield judge's ruling that a new state ballot access law could not be constitutionally enforced in 2024
IL Dems can't overturn court order stopping them from using ballot access law to block GOPers from running in Nov.
The Illinois Supreme Court could not come up with a four-member majority to overturn a Springfield judge's ruling that a new "anti-slating" law supported by Gov. Pritzker and his fellow Democrats was unconstitutional. The decision means Dems can't block Keeven, other GOP legislative candidates from the fall ballot
Appeals court: GOP congressman, voters can't sue IL for counting mail-in votes 2 weeks after Election Day
A divided federal appeals panel sided with the state and Democrats in tossing out a lawsuit challenging Illinois law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted up to 14 days after Election Day. A dissenting judge said the U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, who led the lawsuit, was wrongly denied the chance to have his case heard
Appeals court tosses Dorman suit challenging IL ban on short-barreled rifles
The Fifth District Appellate Court said the state's ban on short-barreled rifles doesn't violate the Second Amendment or recent Supreme Court decisions because federal courts have consistently ruled that such weapons aren't commonly used for self-defense, but rather for crimes
Elections hearing officer: New IL ballot access law shouldn't apply to GOP candidate who filed before law was signed
Illinois candidates and voters still await an Illinois Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of a ballot access law, which GOPers say was designed to block them from the Nov. ballot. That decision shouldn't matter for at least one GOP candidate who filed the day before Pritzker signed the law, a hearing officer said
Chicago can use 'public health' concerns to shut down building projects, even if rules don't say so, judge says
The decision OKs Chicago City Hall's denial of an operating permit to the developers of a South Side metal recycling center, which came in response to public pressure. Developers and business advocates say the ruling will give the city sweeping leeway to otherwise illegally use politics to review development projects
Judge: Evanston teacher hasn't shown she was harmed by D65's 'anti-racism' policies, programs
A federal judge has tossed, for now, a lawsuit from a white Evanston middle school teacher who claims District 65 has discriminated against her and other white staff and students by allegedly dividing by race and promoting anti-racism and anti "whiteness" curriculum, policies and programs
Microplastics in water doesn't make it unnatural, judge says; Tosses class action vs Ice Mountain maker
A Chicago federal judge said federal law likely preempts a class action lawsuit accusing BlueTriton, the distributor of Ice Mountain and other brands of bottled waters, of violating Illinois' consumer fraud law by misleading consumers to buy "100% Natural Spring Water" that contains microplastics
Lawsuit: New IL law tramples business owners' First Amendment speech rights
A new federal lawsuit claims the union-backed so-called "Worker Freedom of Speech Act," which bans so-called "captive meetings" in workplaces, only actually restricts employers' free speech and leaves them exposed to lawsuits and fines for exercising their constitutional rights
IL trial lawyers say state high court should remove rule limiting lawsuit 'forum shopping' in IL courts
The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association has urged the Illinois Supreme Court to use a case over the fate of a state law that limits where Illinoisans can challenge potentially unconstitutional laws to instead abolish a court rule that businesses can use to avoid being sued in Cook County, other unfriendly courts
Man acquitted in 1991 Dixmoor rape, murder can't sue Cook County State's Attorneys
A state appeals panel says the family of Willie Randolph, who was charged with the 1991 rape and murder of 14-year-old Cateresa Mathews in Dixmoor after the notorious "Dixmoor Five" were exonerated, can't sue the current and former Cook County State's Attorneys for malicious prosecution, despite acquittal at trial
Pritzker signs biometrics privacy law reform; New law will limit risk of business-ending judgments
Without fanfare, Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law a new reform measure that will scale back the financial risk that has faced Illinois employers and other businesses operating in the state for nearly a decade, targeted by thousands of potentially ruinous lawsuits under the state's biometrics privacy law
Class action accuses Andy Frain of discriminating by not hiring felons as security guards
The lawsuit claims security and crowd control company Andy Frain Services has violated an Illinois state law putting employers at risk of lawsuits if they base hiring decisions on applicants' criminal convictions, without first determining if the conviction has a "substantial relationship" to the job
Jury orders Avon to pay $24M to former janitor with mesothelioma
After a month-long trial, a Cook County jury said Avon owes $24.4 million because the man allegedly contracted mesothelioma lung cancer from being exposed to asbestos-contaminated talc products at the company's Morton Grove facility in the 1980s
Judge deletes, for now, biometrics class action vs Samsung over Gallery photo face scans
While Samsung's Gallery smartphone photo app scans the faces of people pictured in uploaded images, it doesn't mean Samsung possesses the information, nor does it mean Samsung necessarily identifies anyone, the judge said, potentially endangering plaintiffs' bid for a big payday from Samsung
Unions can defend vs attempts to force IL to clean up voter rolls, judge says
A federal judge in Chicago has given two powerful labor unions the right to fight in court against a lawsuit brought conservative activist groups seeking to force the state of Illinois more stringently comply with federal law requiring the state and local election authorities to purge voter rolls of dead and otherwise ineligible voters
Fed judge again quickly tosses suit accusing IL judges of working together to squelch criticism
A federal judge moved quickly to end the legal action brought by an attorney and judicial reform advocate accusing the Illinois Judges Association of wrongly collaborating to shut down criticism and shield member judges, particularly including the head of Cook County's divorce courts, of consequences for alleged unethical actions
'True colors?' IL Dems say GOPers can't run in Nov because didn't face primary voters, but back Harris for Prez
Gov. Pritzker and Speaker Welch are defending an Illinois law that would block Republican candidates from 2024 ballot because they didn't run in the primary. At the same time, they also back VP Harris for President, even though she was selected by party bosses and has never run in a presidential primary
Chicago drops first version of lawsuit vs Glock, refiles new complaint in Cook County, also accusing gun shops
The lawsuit is the first of its kind under a new Illinois state law designed to make gunmakers pay for allegedly making Chicago's gang-related gun violence problems worse. Specifically, the new lawsuit accuses Glock of allegedly making it too easy to modify Glock semiautomatic pistols into fully automatic "machine guns"
CTA seeks to toss $3M verdict awarded to woman convicted of murdering, dismembering landlord
The Chicago Transit Authority has appealed a jury's verdict in favor of Sandra Kolalou for injuries she claimed she sustained in a bus accident, but who later was convicted of murdering and dismembering her landlady. The CTA says the trial judge wrongly went to "great lengths" to ensure jurors never learned of Kolalou's charges and jailing