7th Circuit Court

Posner researches Chabad online; Bauer explains his ‘religious inclinations’ concurrence

Federal appeals judge Richard Posner of Chicago often garners attention for the opinions he writes, but his decision tossing a rabbi’s suit against Northwestern University may not be getting as much attention as the concurrence. The first sentence of the Nov. 6 opinion (PDF) by Posner begins with a same-day…

Nov 11, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Chicago teens tell how guns affected them and their neighborhoods

For five years, teenage sisters J'Doria and Jari Taylor lived on a tree-lined street of brick homes in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood, and there they grew familiar with the sound of gunfire. The girls didn't need police statistics to tell them they were surrounded by violence, but those statistics support their impressions. In every month of 2013, the last year they lived there, an average of 70 violent crimes were reported from somewhere in Gresham, making it one of America's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Nov 1, 2014 5:25 AM CDT

New defamation suit by Northwestern prof is 4th case filed over student’s claim of sexual assault

A student’s claim that a Northwestern University philosophy professor was involved in sexual misconduct in 2012 has sparked four lawsuits this year. In February, the woman filed a Title IX suit against the school in federal court, saying that it had mishandled her complaint that professor Peter Ludlow got her…

Oct 29, 2014 2:30 PM CDT

Former ‘People’s Attorney’ radio host is convicted in $10M mortgage-fraud case

A federal jury in Chicago has convicted former national talk radio show personality Warren Ballentine in a mortgage-fraud case that cost lenders nearly $10 million. Jurors deliberated less than two hours after a four-day trial, before convicting Ballentine on Friday of making false statements to lenders and bank, mail and…

Oct 24, 2014 1:50 PM CDT

Bank sues attorney and others over $570K wired to Japan in alleged Internet fraud by ‘client’

An Illinois attorney, apparently victimized by a fake client in an Internet scam involving purported settlement payments in a divorce case, has been sued over $570,000 he allegedly wired to Japan without adequate inquiry. Filed last week in federal court in Chicago, the suit by Federal Insurance Company and First…

Oct 20, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

Ex-partner of law firm indicted, accused of aiding unlawful use of energy tax credits by clients

An Illinois lawyer has been federally indicted in what the government describes as a scheme to promote the unlawful use of alternative-fuel-generation tax credits by his clients, while working as a partner at a Chicago law firm. The indictment against Gary J. Stern says he “aided and assisted in, and…

Oct 16, 2014 2:08 PM CDT

Former ‘People’s Attorney’ radio host is tried in $10M mortgage-fraud case over real estate closings

An Illinois lawyer is being tried in a criminal fraud case in federal court in Chicago, accused of cheating mortgage lenders out of almost $10 million by representing buyers he knew were not qualified to purchase at real estate closings.in and around the city. Warren Ballentine has said on Facebook…

Oct 15, 2014 10:00 AM CDT

Woman gets 7 years for filing fake $100B liens against 4 judges, US attorney and others

Five years ago, Cherron Phillips was a successful career woman with two children, friends and relatives with impressive records of achievement and no criminal record. On Tuesday, the 44-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison by a federal judge in Chicago for filing bogus $100 billion maritime liens against…

Oct 14, 2014 2:15 PM CDT

7th Circuit won’t rehear voter ID case; Posner dissent cites ‘goofy, if not paranoid’ fraud evidence

The fight over Wisconsin’s voter ID law has ricocheted back to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which refused on Friday to grant en banc review of an Oct. 6 panel decision upholding the law. Judge Richard Posner called the refusal to rehear the case on the merits…

Oct 10, 2014 2:31 PM CDT

Police stop over unbuckled seat belts leads to chaotic arrest and federal civil rights suit

A police stop of a family in Hammond, Indiana, over two unbuckled seat belts last month ended in emotional chaos after the officers broke a window and used an electronic stun gun on a passenger. What exactly led to the escalation is in dispute: A federal civil rights lawsuit filed…

Oct 8, 2014 5:55 PM CDT

7th Circuit explains how acquitted murder defendant can still be punished by sentencing judge

Acquitted by a jury in the fatal shooting of a rival Latin Kings gang member, Martin Anaya nonetheless was blamed for the murder by the federal district judge who oversaw his Indiana racketeering and drug conspiracy case. As a result, Anaya had his sentence enhanced to two concurrent 30-year terms.…

Oct 8, 2014 3:20 PM CDT

7th Circuit upholds voter ID in opinion that is ‘vintage Judge Easterbrook’: what will SCOTUS do?

A federal appeals court decision on Monday upholding Wisconsin’s voter ID law came as no surprise. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month allowed the law to take effect as it considered a challenge. As a result, the opinion on Monday was expected, report the Associated Press,…

Oct 7, 2014 10:36 AM CDT

Federal judge says she thinks convicted drug dealer killed police officer, gives defendant 35 years

State prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, couldn’t prove a murder case against Jason “J-Rock” Austin in the 2008 slayings of an off-duty Chicago police detective and his companion. But federal prosecutors in a subsequent drug case argued at sentencing that Austin had indeed killed Chicago police detective Robert Soto and…

Sep 18, 2014 4:35 PM CDT

Imprisoned for plotting to kill federal judge, law grad wants to play the violin in supermax

Nearly a decade into his 40-year prison sentence for plotting to kill a federal judge in Chicago, law graduate Matthew Hale is finding the conditions of his solitary confinement in one of the country’s most secure prisons onerous. The would-be Illinois lawyer, who was denied bar admission over his admitted…

Sep 16, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

Off-site video that saved woman from felony charge is now supporting a $150K civil rights settlement

An off-site security video that saved a Chicago tanning salon manager from a felony charge is also helping her to win a likely $150,000 settlement in her federal civil rights case against the city concerning a raid at the north side business last year. The city council’s finance committee has…

Sep 9, 2014 9:55 AM CDT