In Campos v. Cook County, et al., No. 18-3472, County correctional officer was twice terminated, and his termination was twice vacated by the circuit court upon judicial review. After eight years of termination proceedings and suspension without pay, the officer brought a federal Section 1983 lawsuit claiming that the termination proceedings violated his substantive due…
Read MoreIn two recent cases, Alarm Detection Systems, Inc. v. Orland Fire Protection District, and Alarm Detection Systems, Inc. v. Village of Schaumburg, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of two local dispatch centers in federal civil rights and anti-trust actions filed by private alarm companies. In the Schaumburg case, a group…
Read MoreOn June 20, 2019, the Supreme Court decided McDonough v. Smith. In McDonough, a commissioner of the county board of elections was investigated for forged absentee ballots in a 2009 primary election in New York. The commissioner alleged that the district attorney fabricated evidence against him and used it to secure a grand jury indictment….
Read MoreIf a police officer arrests someone in retaliation for protected speech, it’s a First Amendment violation. But suppose that apart from the speech, there was probable cause to arrest that person for a crime? Lower courts have long disagreed whether such a person could bring a claim alleging a First Amendment retaliatory arrest. Twice in…
Read MorePlaintiff Richard Brooks, a City of Kankakee police officer, sued his employer for alleged employment discrimination in Brooks v. City of Kankakee, Case No. 17-cv-2265 (C. D. Ill). Brooks claimed that the City’s failure to promote him to sergeant and that several instances of on-the-job discipline were unlawful retaliation for his past complaints about alleged…
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