The HCBullet: The blog of the Attorneys at HCB

Court Rules that Detainee Was Not Denied Necessary Medical Care and Officer Was Not Liable For Failure to Protect

July 26, 2017

Judge Colin Stirling Bruce of the U.S. District Court of Central Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of City of Kankakee Deputy Chief Robin Passwater, Kankakee Police Officer Michael Shreffler, and Jerome Combs Detention Center Nurse Dawn O’Dell in Villagomez v. Passwater, et al., No. 15-cv-2178.  Pro se Plaintiff Jesse Villagomez claimed that Officer Shreffler…

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Will County Judge Dismisses Pedestrian Sidewalk Defect Claims

July 12, 2017

On June 29, 2017, Judge Raymond Rossi granted the City’s motion to dismiss in Felisha Johnson v. City of Joliet. Johnson had alleged that she had tripped outside of the Will County courthouse at the edge between cement sidewalk slabs and red paver bricks. After the lawsuit was filed, however, City officials were able to…

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Court Rules that Deputy Had Probable Cause to Arrest Plaintiff for Obstruction When Plaintiff Refused to Accept Service of Protective Order

July 12, 2017

Judge Joe Billy McDade of the U.S. District Court of Central Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of Livingston County Deputy, Brian Hoffmeyer, in Stevenson v. Meredith, et al., No. 15-cv-1340. Pro se Plaintiff Timothy Stevenson claimed that he was arrested without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment by Deputy Hoffmeyer. On June…

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U.S. Supreme Court Finds Free Exercise Clause Violation in State’s Practice of Refusing Grants to Religious Pre-School

July 12, 2017

The Trinity Lutheran Church Child Learning Center in Missouri is a preschool and daycare center, operating with Trinity Lutheran Church on its property. In 2012, the Center sought to replace the gravel on its playground with a rubber surface by participating in Missouri’s Scrap Tire Program. The Program, run by the State’s Department of Natural…

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Court Grants Summary Judgment in Defendants’ Favor in Inmate’s Failure to Protect and Medical Care Case

June 27, 2017

Central District Judge Eric Long granted Defendant’s motion for summary judgment in Whiteside v. County of Kankakee, et al., No. 16-2115. Plaintiff, a jail inmate, alleged that a correctional officer failed to protect him from an altercation with another inmate and that the jail nurse was deliberately indifferent to his injuries following the altercation. The…

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