Remember the national uproar last November when U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia bowed out of his reelection race at the last minute and quietly passed petitions to put his chief of staff Patty Garcia on the ballot? We saw a lesser, but still quite palpable mass grumbling when state Rep. Marty Moylan (D-Des Plaines) did the […]
Illinois supreme court
Posted inNews
Supreme Court hears pension arguments
The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments last week on whether a controversial law cutting public pension benefits was constitutional. The high court’s decision will play a pivotal role in determining how Illinois deals with its growing unfunded public pension liability, especially as Gov. Bruce Rauner seeks to further cut pensions to close a massive budget […]
Posted inNews
Pension tension
The Illinois Supreme Court will hear arguments on a lawsuit over public pension benefits next week, bringing to a head fundamental disagreements over the rights conferred by Illinois’ constitution and whether an emergency justifies overriding the constitution. If state employees and retirees are successful, they’ll see a law which undisputedly reduces the value of their […]
Posted inNews
Missing the money
Computer tampering charges have been dropped against a defendant in a bizarre court case involving supposed computer hacking at a defunct Illinois nonprofit. Still, millions of dollars in state and federal grants are missing, and the nonprofit’s director has yet to account for the money. Annabel Melongo of Chicago was found not guilty of computer […]
Posted inNews
Supreme Court strikes down recording law
Watch what you say; it can now be recorded without your knowledge or consent. The Illinois Supreme Court decided this very thing last week in a pair of unanimous decisions that invalidated a state law requiring “two-party consent” to record conversations. The decisions bring Illinois in line with the majority of other states and further […]
Posted inNews
Will police torture set convicted rapist free?
No one disputes that Stanley Wrice was beaten by Chicago police to extract a confession. Now, the state Supreme Court will decide whether the beating and subsequent forced confession is grounds for a hearing that could ultimately result in Wrice being set free after serving nearly 30 years of a 100-year sentence. His supporters say […]
