Illinois

Judge who told black defendant ‘you were never a slave’ fails to win retention

A criminal court judge in suburban Chicago who told a black defendant he shouldn’t be offended by the N-word because he was never a slave will be leaving the bench at the end of June. Associate Judge Richard Schwind failed to win retention in a vote by circuit judges in…

Jun 6, 2019 9:26 AM CDT

Are pets assets or part of the family?

California became the third state in the U.S. to adopt a law that allows judges to consider what’s in the best interests of the animal rather than treating the pet like other inanimate property, such as a car. Alaska and Illinois have passed similar laws since 2016. The new laws are groundbreaking because they come amid growing interest in protecting pets and settling disputes over them.

Jun 1, 2019 1:30 AM CDT

Public defender fired after judge discovers she never passed bar exam

An assistant public defender who gave advice and made “critical decisions” on about 80 cases has been fired after a judge discovered she did not have a law license. The assistant public defender, Kelcie Miller of Edwardsville, Illinois, was fired last week, according to Madison County, Illinois, Public Defender John…

May 30, 2019 10:48 AM CDT

Play about Hamlet puts Chicago judges and attorneys center stage

Please, Continue (Hamlet), a play starring actual trial judges, public defenders and prosecutors in the roles of the court officials, was performed April 25-28 in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It’s been showcased hundreds of times in countries around the world “with wildly varying verdicts, drawing attention to the theatrical nature of justice systems,” according to the MCA’s website.

May 28, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Food truck restrictions, including GPS requirement, can stand, state supreme court rules

A cupcake entrepreneur has lost her constitutional challenge to Chicago’s food truck regulations before the Illinois Supreme Court. The state high court rejected constitutional claims by Laura Pekarik, who operated a food truck called Cupcakes for Courage. Pekarik was represented by the Institute for Justice, according to a press release.…

May 23, 2019 3:51 PM CDT

Lawyer who secretly changed origination credits to his benefit should be suspended, ethics panel says

An Illinois lawyer who inadvertently discovered he was able to alter origination credits on his office computer should be suspended for making changes that added more than $200,000 to his book of business, according to an ethics hearing board. Michael Joseph Shifrin should be suspended for one year for making…

May 6, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

ABA publication wins defamation appeal in 7th Circuit

An article in an ABA publication for judges didn’t defame a nonprofit group that certifies forensic document examiners, a federal appeals court has ruled. In a May 1 opinion, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago affirmed dismissal of a defamation suit filed against the Judges’ Journal, a…

May 3, 2019 2:21 PM CDT

Parental rights of prisoners get a shield of protection

The state of Indiana is on the verge of enacting a law that will make sure parents in prison don’t have their parental rights terminated because of their imprisonment alone, an issue the Marshall Project first reported on in December.

Apr 26, 2019 3:24 PM CDT

After ‘aloha’ restaurant dispute, Hawaii pushes to protect cultural intellectual property

“Aloha” means hello and goodbye and signifies love, compassion and kindness. Since last year, the Hawaiian word also has been legally connected to poke, a bowl of diced raw fish. In 2018, a non-Hawaiian food chain that originated in Chicago, the Aloha Poke Co., trademarked “Aloha Poke” and sent cease-and-desist…

Apr 26, 2019 10:44 AM CDT

Cops listed occupations like ‘scum bag,’ ‘dork’ on gang arrest cards; report calls for overhaul

Arrest cards for suspected gang members in Chicago listed occupations such as “scum bag,” “bum,” “criminal,” “dork,” “looser” and “turd,” according to an April 11 report by the city’s inspector general. The employment entries by Chicago officers show how the police department’s gang information systems can be used “to demean…

Apr 16, 2019 7:30 AM CDT

Judge tosses law firm’s suit seeking $9.75M bonus fee in divorce case

A judge in Cook County, Illinois, has expressed her displeasure with a case filed by a prominent law firm seeking a bonus fee of $9.75 million in a high-profile divorce case.

Apr 15, 2019 9:53 AM CDT

GPS ankle monitors can call and record people without consent; do they violate 5th Amendment?

Updated: GPS electronic monitoring devices made by a company called the Track Group can call and record people who are required to wear the ankle monitors because they are on probation or awaiting trial.

Apr 9, 2019 11:39 AM CDT

Client and lawyer, a ‘willful enabler,’ sanctioned over $1M for ‘simply obscene’ condo litigation

A Chicago judge has sanctioned a litigant and his lawyer more than $1 million for filing frivolous claims against a condo association and nearly every one of its residents, as well as their attorneys. Judge Margaret Ann Brennan said litigant Marshall Spiegel and his “willful enabler” lawyer John Xydakis had…

Apr 8, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Former federal prosecutor makes history as Chicago’s first black female and openly gay mayor

A former federal prosecutor who was an equity partner at Mayer Brown has been elected the new mayor of Chicago in a landslide victory against her runoff opponent. A “kickass trial lawyer,” in the words of former Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner, Lori Lightfoot, a lesbian, is the first openly…

Apr 3, 2019 3:07 PM CDT

Decision striking down part of sex offender law is ‘the talk of the prison,’ lawyer says

A federal judge in Chicago has found that it is unconstitutional for Illinois to hold sex offenders in prison after their release date when they are so impoverished that they can’t find a place to live that complies with state requirements. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall ruled Sunday, WBEZ reports.…

Apr 3, 2019 12:41 PM CDT