Jonathan Bilyk News
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
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
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
'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
Judge tosses civil rights suit vs Quincy bar owners over attack on Quincy U. women's basketball player
A Springfield federal judge said plaintiff Jazzpher Evans, who was brutally assaulted by the white male former owner of The Barn of Quincy in 2021, did not follow rules laid out in federal and state civil rights laws before filing suit against the owners of the establishment
Feds can use lending law to try to punish Townstone for alleged discriminatory radio show comments
A federal appeals panel said a lower court wrongly tossed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's action vs Townstone Financial because the judge had imposed a 'crabbed' interpretation of a federal lending discrimination law that limited the agency's ability to protect black prospective loan applicants
Keeven faces objection to candidacy centered on GOP-blocking state law judge declared unconstitutional
The Illinois Supreme Court could rule on the constitutionality of the law soon, as State House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch seeks to reverse a Springfield judge's determination that Democrats wrongly changed election rules in the middle of the game, violating Republicans' voting rights
Supreme Court won't step in - yet - to overturn Illinois 'assault weapons' ban
The U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions from Illinois gun owners to review a Chicago federal appeals court's decision allowing Illinois' controversial gun ban law to take effect. Justice Clarence Thomas, however, called that decision 'nonsensical,' and warned the Illinois law will ultimately face a difficult reception at the high court
Cook Co 'assault weapons' ban not constitutional, even under prior appeals court ruling upholding IL gun ban: Filing
Second Amendment rights advocates urged the Seventh Circuit Appeals Court to strike down Cook County's "assault weapons" ban ordinance and overrule their colleagues, saying the ordinance and the decision violate the Constitution and clash with two Supreme Court rulings
Judge: Lawsuit investor Burford can't stop Pilgrim's Pride from settling Sysco's meat price fixing lawsuits
A Chicago federal judge, who had earlier agreed that lawsuit investor Burford Capital could seize control of food supplier Sysco's legal claims as part of a sprawling antitrust action over meat prices, said meat producer Pilgrim's Pride had an enforceable settlement deal with Sysco, which bound Burford
Appeals panel: Non-Facebook users can't sue Meta for biometric face scans that couldn't ID them
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that a San Francisco federal judge wasn't wrong to unplug a lawsuit accusing Facebook-parent Meta of allegedly violating an Illinois biometrics privacy law by using its photo upload system to scan photos for faces, even of non-users
Class action plaintiffs, lawyers could get stake in facial recognition firm Clearview under deal
The "creative" settlement would allow potentially many thousands of class member plaintiffs and their lawyers to scrape together millions of dollars from tech startup Clearview, which was sued for alleged violations of Illinois' biometric privacy law and other privacy statutes
Speaker Welch asks IL high court to toss ruling barring Dems from blocking many GOP candidates from fall ballot
A Springfield judge had ruled Democrats violated the constitutional rights of Republican candidates by passing a law weeks after the primary election barring them from getting on the ballot to challenge Democratic incumbents this fall because they didn't first run in the primary election
IL to get $29M from $700M J&J talc settlement deal with states
The settlement will end legal actions launched by 43 states accusing Johnson & Johnson of allegedly misleading consumers about the safety of its talc baby powder and body powder products. The company has denied its products cause cancer, as other plaintiffs have claimed in thousands of other lawsuits
Grischow, judge who blocked Pritzker's school mask mandate, selected to serve on Springfield appeals court
The Illinois Supreme Court announced it would assign Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow to serve on the state's Fourth District Appellate Court. Grischow notably issued an order in 2022 declaring Gov. Pritzker had illegally issued 'emergency orders' requiring students wear masks in school
Judge: Democrats can't change 2024 election rules now to block Republicans from fall ballot
A judge in Springfield has permanently blocked the state from enforcing a new law backed by Dems which the judge said unconstitutionally rewrote candidate selection rules and would keep Republican state legislative candidates from the 2024 ballot
More GOP candidates join court case vs IL Dems over 'candidate slating' ballot blocking law
Democrats told a Springfield judge she needs to can the case, saying the changes to the election rules in the middle of the 2024 election cycle don't violate anyone's rights, and judges have no place deciding if state lawmakers abided by the constitution in deciding how candidates can get on the ballot
IL Supreme Court rewrites attorney 'discrimination' rule; Critics predict court challenges forthcoming
Supporters say the rule change will create a stronger 'deterrent' to discriminatory and harassing behavior by lawyers in the state. Opponents say the new rule imposes an unconstitutional 'speech code' on Illinois lawyers, and likely will be challenged in court
Appeals court says man who told police he would kill his father must be released pending trial
A man was charged with assault for allegedly attempting to burn down his elderly father's home amid a dispute over disability payments. The appeals court said a Christian County judge can't order him held pretrial because he wasn't charged with a crime included on a list of "detainable offenses" in the SAFE-T Act
Family of woman hurt in laundry room gas vapor explosion can't use IL enviro law to sue gas station owners
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled the Illinois Environmental Protection Act doesn't empower individuals to sue gas station owners for injuries caused by leaking underground fuel tanks. A woman had sued the owner of a Willowbrook Speedway station over a 2017 explosion in her laundry room caused by vapors that traveled through the sewer