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COOK COUNTY RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Lawsuits claim Henyard mistreated, fired workers in Dolton, Thornton Township for refusing illegal schemes

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Three ex-Dolton village and Thornton Township workers claim Dolton Mayor and Thorntown Township Supervisor Tiffany Henyard demanded they perform illegal acts, then allegedly harassed them, and ultimately fired them for refusing.

Ex-megachurch pastor's defamation claims vs opposing lawyers doesn't end attorney-client privilege: Appeals court

By Scott Holland |
The decision means ex-Harvest Bible Chapel pastor James MacDonald can't get access to certain documents he claims he needs to see to press his legal claims against the church's former lawyers.

Foster declares Pritzker's venue law unconstitutional, refuses to transfer firearm liability challenge to Sangamon County

By Heather Isringhausen Gvillo |
Madison County Associate Judge Ronald J. Foster Jr. declared Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s forum law favoring Cook and Sangamon County is unconstitutional and denied Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s motion to transfer an Alton gun store’s constitutional challenge to both the venue law and the firearm liability law.

Bring Chicago Home votes will be counted after IL Supreme Court nixes challengers' bid for appeal

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The decision lets stand an appellate court's ruling that Illinois residents cannot ask courts to review before the election any referendum questions placed on the ballot by the Chicago City Council or other elected "legislative" bodies, "regardless of how blatantly unconstitutional"

Bears sued for discriminating vs white males in 'Diversity' job post limited to 'people of color,' women

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuit was filed in Chicago federal court, and accused the Chicago Bears of violating state and federal anti-discrimination laws by listing non-white race and 'female' as required job qualifications for a "Diversity Legal Fellow" job opening with the organization

Opponents to Chicago property sales tax hike referendum ask IL Supreme Court to step in

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Business groups argued an appellate court's decision reinstating the referendum on the ballot would effectively allow the Chicago City Council and other lawmaking bodies across the state to place any referendum questions on any ballot they wish, regardless if the questions are constitutional

Foxx's No. 2 Risa Lanier seeks judgeship; Lands on list of judicial candidates rated 'Not Qualified' by state bar association

By Jonathan Bilyk |
According to an evaluation published by the Illinois State Bar Association, Risa Lanier, First Assistant to Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, was rated "Not Qualified" in part because of other lawyers' concerns over her "honesty" and "poor decision making"

IL Supreme Court: Hockey club that rents ice arena can be sued under IL human rights law for 'banishing' teen diagnosed with depression

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Illinois Supreme Court says the teen's mental health diagnoses mean she could be protected by the IL Human Rights Act's anti-discrimination provisions protecting access to "places of public accommodation." Objectors contended such reasoning could open broad range of private organizations to lawsuits, violating First Amendment

Parents drop lawsuit accusing Skokie Fairview District 72 of racism; District called accusations 'repugnant,' 'baseless'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A group of parents appear to have ended their lawsuit against Skokie Fairview Elementary School District 72, in which they had accused school officials of 'white supremacism,' in part for refusing to accede to demands for 'anti-racism' training for students and staff in response to alleged racist student behavior

Judges: Courts must 'remain on sidelines' on school 'gender support' policies until parents' rights are violated

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal appeals panel has dismissed a lawsuit brought against Wisconsin school district by parents who say the district's new "gender support guidance" for school staff will inevitably lead to school staff violating their constitutional rights as parents to direct the upbringing of their children

Apple moves to bar software engineering VP from being deposed in BIPA suit; Plaintiffs seek sanctions

By Heather Isringhausen Gvillo |
Apple product users who claim their biometric identifiers were collected and stored through the Photos App's facial recognition technology seek sanctions against the tech giant for failing to produce its Vice President of Software Engineering for a deposition ahead of the March 8 discovery deadline.

Chicago area investors part of nationwide $180M class action vs movie financier Jason Cloth over filmmaking 'Ponzi scheme'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The complaint asserts Cloth, who has helped finance numerous big money productions, including "Babylon," "Mission: Impossible," "Joker," and "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," is actually an alleged scammer who used multiple entities to try to stay ahead of investors, and leave them holding the bag.

Bring Chicago Home tax hike referendum gets new life; Appeals court says legal challenge 'premature'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel overturned the ruling of a Cook County judge who had invalidated Mayor Brandon Johnson's real estate sales tax hike ballot measure because it illegally asked voters two questions in one referendum. The appeals court said validity challenges need to wait until after the election

Filings: Lawyers Who Sue Police, Defend Accused Criminals Lead Financial Backing of State's Attorney Hopeful Harris

By Cook County Record Reports |
Lawyers who specializing in suing police, and defending accused criminals, make up the largest segment of donors to the campaign of Clayton Harris, III, who is vying for the Democratic nomination for states attorney in the March 19 primary.

Judicial Watch files lawsuit against Illinois State Board of Elections

By Cook County Record |
Judicial Watch, an educational and awareness organization, has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the Illinois State Board of Elections and Executive Director Bernadette Matthews. The lawsuit claimed that the Board failed to clean their voter rolls and produced election related records in compliance with federal law.

Illinois Supreme Court sets new standard on when convicted felons can credibly claim 'torture' by cops

By Scott Holland |
A divided Illinois Supreme Court rejected the attempt by Darrell Fair, who was convicted of murder and armed robbery, but claimed some of his statements while in police custody were coerced by torture. A Cook County trial judge had called such claims "an absolute lie."

Race for Cook County State's Attorney dead heat, new poll says

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A poll from survey firm M3 Strategies says retired judge Eileen O'Neill Burke, who has pledged to undo many of the perceived soft on crime policies of current Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, is tied at 21% with attorney Clayton Harris III, who is endorsed by allies of Foxx and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Supreme Court boots ballot challenges to Trump, says states can't block presidential candidates under 14th Amend

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The unanimous ruling strikes down rulings from Democratic judges in Colorado and Cook County, which had declared individual states have the power under the Fourteenth Amendment to block "insurrectionists" from seeking federal office

Judge OKs Cook County 'assault weapons' ban, agrees that bans only apply to guns not protected by 2nd Amend

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Chicago federal judge became the latest to uphold a ban on so-called "assault weapons," saying she was bound by a 2023 appellate ruling which declared weapons labeled by lawmakers as "dangerous," "military-grade" weapons aren't protected by the Second Amendment and can be banned

BNSF to pay $75M to settle truckers' fingerprint scan class action; Lawyers could get $27M

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The settlement would end the court fight in the first class action under the Illinois Biometrics Information Privacy Act to go to trial. A federal judge last summer tossed out a $228 million jury award secured by plaintiffs.