7th Circuit Court

Bank sues attorney and others over $570K wired to Japan in alleged Internet fraud by ‘client’

An Illinois attorney, apparently victimized by a fake client in an Internet scam involving purported settlement payments in a divorce case, has been sued over $570,000 he allegedly wired to Japan without adequate inquiry. Filed last week in federal court in Chicago, the suit by Federal Insurance Company and First…

Oct 20, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

Ex-partner of law firm indicted, accused of aiding unlawful use of energy tax credits by clients

An Illinois lawyer has been federally indicted in what the government describes as a scheme to promote the unlawful use of alternative-fuel-generation tax credits by his clients, while working as a partner at a Chicago law firm. The indictment against Gary J. Stern says he “aided and assisted in, and…

Oct 16, 2014 2:08 PM CDT

Former ‘People’s Attorney’ radio host is tried in $10M mortgage-fraud case over real estate closings

An Illinois lawyer is being tried in a criminal fraud case in federal court in Chicago, accused of cheating mortgage lenders out of almost $10 million by representing buyers he knew were not qualified to purchase at real estate closings.in and around the city. Warren Ballentine has said on Facebook…

Oct 15, 2014 10:00 AM CDT

Woman gets 7 years for filing fake $100B liens against 4 judges, US attorney and others

Five years ago, Cherron Phillips was a successful career woman with two children, friends and relatives with impressive records of achievement and no criminal record. On Tuesday, the 44-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison by a federal judge in Chicago for filing bogus $100 billion maritime liens against…

Oct 14, 2014 2:15 PM CDT

7th Circuit won’t rehear voter ID case; Posner dissent cites ‘goofy, if not paranoid’ fraud evidence

The fight over Wisconsin’s voter ID law has ricocheted back to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which refused on Friday to grant en banc review of an Oct. 6 panel decision upholding the law. Judge Richard Posner called the refusal to rehear the case on the merits…

Oct 10, 2014 2:31 PM CDT

Police stop over unbuckled seat belts leads to chaotic arrest and federal civil rights suit

A police stop of a family in Hammond, Indiana, over two unbuckled seat belts last month ended in emotional chaos after the officers broke a window and used an electronic stun gun on a passenger. What exactly led to the escalation is in dispute: A federal civil rights lawsuit filed…

Oct 8, 2014 5:55 PM CDT

7th Circuit explains how acquitted murder defendant can still be punished by sentencing judge

Acquitted by a jury in the fatal shooting of a rival Latin Kings gang member, Martin Anaya nonetheless was blamed for the murder by the federal district judge who oversaw his Indiana racketeering and drug conspiracy case. As a result, Anaya had his sentence enhanced to two concurrent 30-year terms.…

Oct 8, 2014 3:20 PM CDT

7th Circuit upholds voter ID in opinion that is ‘vintage Judge Easterbrook’: what will SCOTUS do?

A federal appeals court decision on Monday upholding Wisconsin’s voter ID law came as no surprise. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month allowed the law to take effect as it considered a challenge. As a result, the opinion on Monday was expected, report the Associated Press,…

Oct 7, 2014 10:36 AM CDT

Federal judge says she thinks convicted drug dealer killed police officer, gives defendant 35 years

State prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, couldn’t prove a murder case against Jason “J-Rock” Austin in the 2008 slayings of an off-duty Chicago police detective and his companion. But federal prosecutors in a subsequent drug case argued at sentencing that Austin had indeed killed Chicago police detective Robert Soto and…

Sep 18, 2014 4:35 PM CDT

Imprisoned for plotting to kill federal judge, law grad wants to play the violin in supermax

Nearly a decade into his 40-year prison sentence for plotting to kill a federal judge in Chicago, law graduate Matthew Hale is finding the conditions of his solitary confinement in one of the country’s most secure prisons onerous. The would-be Illinois lawyer, who was denied bar admission over his admitted…

Sep 16, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

Off-site video that saved woman from felony charge is now supporting a $150K civil rights settlement

An off-site security video that saved a Chicago tanning salon manager from a felony charge is also helping her to win a likely $150,000 settlement in her federal civil rights case against the city concerning a raid at the north side business last year. The city council’s finance committee has…

Sep 9, 2014 9:55 AM CDT

With ‘eye-popping speed,’ 7th Circuit strikes 2 states’ same-sex marriage bans 9 days after argument

Acting with what USA Today describes as “eye-popping speed,” a Chicago-based federal appeals court on Thursday struck same-sex marriage bans in two states only nine days after hearing oral arguments. Joining with federal appeals courts that have declared bans on same-sex marriage in Oklahoma, Utah and Virginia to be unconstitutional…

Sep 4, 2014 4:30 PM CDT

7th Circuit upholds Indiana right-to-work law barring mandatory union dues

A federal appeals court has upheld an Indiana law that bars mandatory union membership and dues. The 2-1 decision by the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Indiana right-to-work law didn’t violate the U.S. Constitution and was not pre-empted by federal labor law, report Bloomberg News, Reuters…

Sep 3, 2014 8:14 AM CDT

Federal judge says mom sued too late accusing Chicago officials of cover-up in son’s death

It wasn’t until a report was issued earlier this year by a top Chicago law firm at the conclusion of an unusual court-driven investigation that Nanci Koschman decided to sue city police and Cook County prosecutors over the way her son’s death investigation was handled. But that litigation was filed…

Aug 28, 2014 8:50 PM CDT

Pacer deletes older case files for four appeals courts; compatibility issues cited

Be prepared to jump through some hoops if you would like to access older, closed court records for patent appeals or cases in federal appeals courts based in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. On Aug. 10, the federal courts announced that older court records were being deleted from Pacer for…

Aug 27, 2014 11:15 AM CDT