The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

County Jail Officials Vindicated from Inmate Wrongful Death Claim

December 4, 2018

In McCann v. Ogle County, No. 17-3139 (7th Cir. Nov. 30, 2018), the estate of an Ogle County inmate sued a county sheriff, jail superintendent and nurse and doctor, claiming that the inmate died while detained at the jail due to the over-prescription of methadone. The inmate was being detained in the jail after his…

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In Illinois, Local Governments Cannot Pass Their Own Ordinances Regulating Organized Labor

October 9, 2018

Int’l Union of Operating Eng’rs Local 399 v. Vill. of Lincolnshire, Nos. 17-1300 & 17-1325 (7th Cir. Sep. 28, 2018) The Village of Lincolnshire, in an attempt to curtail labor union power, passed an ordinance to (1) forbid the inclusion of union-security or hiring-hall provisions in collective bargaining agreements, (2) forbid the mandatory use of…

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Appellate Court Affirms Award of Attorney Fees Against Frequent FOIA Litigator

September 25, 2018

In Garlick v. Bloomingdale Twp., 2018 IL App (2d) 171013, the Second District Appellate Court affirmed an award of attorney fees to Bloomingdale Township after protracted FOIA litigation with Warren Garlick. In 2015, Garlick sought, via a FOIA request, an electronic copy of all publicly disclosable data within the Township’s property assessment software system, in…

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Court Grants Correctional Staff Summary Judgment on Inmate’s Medical Care and Kosher Diet Claims

September 25, 2018

In two recent decisions in the same case, Judge Colin Bruce ruled in favor of Kankakee County and various County officials, granting summary judgment against an inmate who was complaining about both a lack of medical attention and the County’s failure to provide him with kosher vegan meals. In the first decision in Armour v….

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Court Grants Defendants Summary Judgment on Jail Inmate’s Medical Care and Due Process Claims

September 11, 2018

The Honorable Sue E. Myerscough in the Central District of Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of the Chief of Corrections, the Physician’s Assistant, nurse, and three correctional officers of the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department in Lopez v. Kolitwenzew, et al. Case No. 15-cv-2149 (C.D. Ill. August 30, 2018). Plaintiff, Jose Juan Urena Lopez, alleged…

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