SWANSEA - Jesse Jones Gray, who as an assistant attorney general defended Illinois against civil suits of prisoners and other plaintiffs for 11 months, left his job in December.
According to assistant attorney general Matthew Banach, who substituted in one of Gray’s cases at U.S. district court, “His separation from the office was abrupt.”
Gray worked in the Swansea office of attorney general Kwame Raoul for $8,100 a month.
He had not appeared at district court prior to 2024 yet by the time he departed he had appeared in 22 cases and all but two remained active.
He mostly dealt with prisoner claims but he also dealt with race discrimination, political retaliation, gun control and lockdown policy.
In the discrimination case, corrections department employee Alnando Sisson alleges monetary and emotional harm from six months on suspension.
His counsel C.J. Baricevic of Belleville sued in 2020, claiming an altercation occurred between Sisson and Joe Kinsey at the East St. Louis correctional facility in 2017.
Sisson is black and Kinsey is white.
Baricevic claimed Kinsey sought criminal charges and grand jurors indicted Sisson on a charge of aggravated battery.
He claimed the corrections department suspended Sisson and took no action against Kinsey.
He claimed a St. Clair County judge acquitted Sisson, concluding that officers involved in his arrest lied to the grand jury.
The department lifted the suspension after the acquittal and assigned Sisson to Centralia.
Gray filed an appearance in February and moved for summary judgment in October.
He claimed Sisson applied for and received two promotions at Centralia.
He claimed Sisson couldn’t identify officers who had criminal charges against them but were not suspended.
Assistant attorney general Banach substituted for Gray on Dec. 11.
Magistrate Judge Gilbert Sison presides.
In the retaliation case former transportation department human resources technician Shelly Shevlin of Freeburg claims former governor Bruce Rauner improperly fired her in 2016.
She sued Rauner and three officials in 2018, dismissed the suit, and filed it again in 2023.
Her counsel Ronald Abernathy of Belleville claimed defrendants alleged unprofessional and unethical conduct as a pretext for violating her rights of free speech and free association.
He claimed the real reason for termination was that prior Democrat administrations employed her or that she refused to affiliate with Rauner’s Republican administration.
He sought reinstatement and restoration of benefits.
District Judge David Dugan set trial to start on Jan. 5, 2025.
Gray substituted for assistant attorney general Peter Quigley in September and moved to postpone trial.
Dugan postponed it to May.
Banach substituted for Gray on Dec. 9 and moved on Dec. 26 for a status conference.
He claimed Gray’s employment ended Dec. 6 and he described the separation as abrupt.
He claimed Gray sent Abernathy a proposed stipulation of dismissal on Dec. 5.
He claimed he followed up with Abernathy who did not submit a filing to dismiss the case.
He claimed deadlines lapsed and further deadlines were imminent.
In the gun control case, Michael Hosfelt and Ray Greer of Madison County claimed in September that state police improperly revoked their firearm owner cards.
Their counsel Tom Maag of Wood River claimed deputies Sandidge and Walker arrested them based only on an anonymous complaint and the presence of fired shotgun shells.
He claimed that while Hosfelt and Greer denied shooting on that date, there was no law against firing a firearm in a yard in unincorporated Madison County.
He claimed the state’s attorney refused to file charges but the deputies sent clear and present danger forms to state police who revoked their cards.
Gray appeared for state police director Brendan Kelly and Heidi Eckert of St. Louis County appeared for the deputies.
Assistant attorney general Christopher McCollum appeared for Kelly on Nov. 27 and moved to substitute for Gray on Dec. 4.
District Judge Stephen McGlynn presides.
In the lockdown case, the state fired correction officer Garrett Rose of Salem for not wearing a mask and billed him for $1,195.92 in reimbursement for medical and dental premiums.
The state paid the premiums after placing him on involuntary leave but before firing him.
His counsel Darrell Dunham of Carbondale challenged reimbursement in 2022 by suing central management director Anthony Pascente.
He sought a declaration that Rose had a constitutionally protected interest in his wages.
Assistant attorney general Thomas Ewick moved to dismiss the complaint and Sison denied it in September 2023.
Gray substituted for Ewick in February 2024 and in March he moved for summary judgment on behalf of Pascente’s successor Raven DeVaughn.
“If a garnishment action ensued against plaintiff it is undisputed that plaintiff would enjoy notice and opportunity to dispute the claim," Gray wrote.
As of Dec. 28 Sison hadn’t ruled on the motion.