Steve Korris News
Fifth District upholds, denies separate Madison County arbitration cases
MOUNT VERNON - Madison County Circuit Judge Sarah Smith and Associate Judge Ronald Foster denied arbitration in separate cases but Smith decided correctly and Foster didn’t, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Feb. 20.
Acting U.S. Attorney named in Southern District of Illinois
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS - Prosecutor Ali Summers stepped up to acting U.S. Attorney on Feb. 18 when President Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to fire Rachelle Crowe and 92 other U.S. attorneys.
In denying claim for unborn fetus, judge declines 'invitation to create new law'
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel granted judgment to the United States on Feb. 18 against a claim that an unborn fetus can recover damages under the Illinois Survival Act.
EEOC seeks to drop transgender suit in light of new 'administration policy changes'
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity commissioners moved to dismiss their discrimination suit against Sis-Bro pig weaning business of New Athens on Feb. 14.
St. Clair County judge continues hearing in defamation case brought by county board member
BELLEVILLE - Circuit Judge Patrick Foley continued a hearing in a defamation suit on a motion of defendant Brad Van Hoose of Belleville who stated he had called plaintiff Gerard Scott Jr. as a witness and Scott didn’t appear.
'Centreville Citizens' say 'enhanced' opportunities to comment on sewer dysfunction 'embellished'
EAST ST. LOUIS - Centreville Citizens for Change claim that opportunities to comment on sewer improvements in Cahokia Heights can’t substitute for intervention in judicial approval of a consent decree.
Belleville lawyer pleads guilty to wire fraud charges
EAST ST. LOUIS - Jason Caraway of Belleville, whose spending of client funds caused the Illinois Supreme Court to disbar him last year, pleaded guilty to six counts of wire fraud at U.S. district court on Feb. 13.
Rosenstengel says Santander class action belongs in federal court, not St. Clair County
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ruled on Feb. 11 that national class action law doesn’t allow St. Clair County jurisdiction for a claim that a buyer of automobile financing contracts takes advantage of borrowers who lack clear titles.
USA seeks dismissal of Honduran national's lawsuit claiming damages for the year she was expelled during Covid
EAST ST. LOUIS - U.S. attorney Rachelle Crowe moved on Feb. 7 to dismiss a complaint of a person in Caseyville who claims the U.S. should have granted her asylum upon her illegal entry from Mexico on the 11th day of the lockdown.
FOID cards unconstitutional, White County judge rules
CARMI - Requiring Illinois citizens to obtain firearm cards for guns they keep in their homes violates the U.S. Constitution, Circuit Judge Scott Webb ruled on Feb. 10.
Judge grants Texas A&M motion to quash Paraquat 'fishing' subpoenas
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel has taken notice that plaintiffs who claim weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease served subpoenas on Texas agencies similar to subpoenas a judge in Houston quashed last year.
Fifth District upholds $3.3 million lung damage verdict against Lewis and Clark Fleeting
MOUNT VERNON - Madison County Circuit Judge Sarah Smith properly preserved a trial that a witness nearly spoiled and her jury properly awarded Kevin Mogensen $3,310,000 for lung damage, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Feb. 4.
Alton attorney Patrick King appointed to fill Stobbs' vacancy
SPRINGFIELD - Patrick King of the Miller King firm in Alton will fill the vacancy Circuit Judge Stephen Stobbs created by retiring.
Asbestos bankruptcy judge denies move by claimants to exclude alleged fraudulent cases from trial
CHARLOTTE - Bankruptcy Judge Laura Beyer ruled against asbestos lawyers who asked her to exclude 221 case files that Georgia Pacific entity Bestwall offered as evidence of fraud.
Cahokia Heights doesn't want intervention of 'Concerned Citizens' in sewer litigation
EAST ST. LOUIS - Cahokia Heights opposes the intervention of Centreville Citizens for Change in adoption of a consent decree for sewer improvements.
Strokes misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, mother claims in new lawsuit
EAST ST. LOUIS - Mental health professionals at Choate Center in Anna diagnosed Leslie Potter’s strokes as schizophrenia and damaged him with treatments, according to his mother Michelle Potter of Texas and grandmother Elaine Dohman of Illinois.
Transgender discrimination suit against pig weaning farm stalls in light of Trump's EO
BENTON - President Trump’s gender order has frozen a discrimination suit of the U.S. equal opportunity commission against Sis-Bro pig weaning company of New Athens.
University of Delaware seeks to quash subpoena in Paraquat litigation
EAST ST. LOUIS - The University of Delaware seeks relief from a subpoena that Chad Finley of Tor Hoerman’s firm in Edwardsville served for Paraquat plaintiff David Heistand of Maryland.
Judge declines to advance Florida case for trial in Paraquat MDL; Defense says plaintiff 'fought tooth and nail' to keep it in state court
EAST ST. LOUIS - As Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel announced six possible plaintiffs for two trials to shed light on 6,000 claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease, she denied a motion to advance a plaintiff from the mass to the front of the line.
First Paraquat trial set before Rosenstengel in October
EAST ST. LOUIS - Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel, presiding over almost 6,000 suits from many states blaming weed killer Paraquat for Parkinson’s disease, set the first trial to start on Oct. 14.