7th Circuit Court

7th Circuit: Landlord Who Rented to Murder Suspect Has No Constitutional Claim for Property Damage

A Wisconsin landlord who had the misfortune to rent to convicted murderer Steven Avery has no constitutional claim for damages to his property caused by investigators, according to a federal appeals court. The opinion by Judge Terrence Evans begins this way: “A landlord is lucky when he rents a dwelling…

Mar 16, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

7th Circuit Zaps Lawyer for Exceeding 14K Word Limit in Brief, Summarily OKs Lower Court Decision

In a blistering opinion (PDF) today, a federal appeals court not only stated or implied that a lawyer had been untruthful in his certification that a brief met the 14,000-word limit but criticized his “rambling” writing. Then, saying that any further effort by appellant attorney John Caudill to file a…

Mar 10, 2011 12:15 AM CST

Students Have Right to Wear ‘Be Happy, Not Gay’ T-Shirt, 7th Circuit Appeals Court Rules

A suburban Chicago school district that promotes tolerance must also allow students to express opposing views, so long as they are not unduly disruptive, a federal appeals court ruled as it upheld the right of high schoolers to wear a “Be Happy, Not Gay” T-shirt. “A school that permits advocacy…

Mar 3, 2011 12:24 AM CST

Attorney Confessed Bank Robbery In Order to Continue Pretend Practice, His Lawyer Says

Seemingly, the federal time Peter Elliott knew he was facing after pleading guilty to bank fraud for siphoning some $3.6 million from his attorney trust account might well have been one of the Wisconsin lawyer’s biggest problems in July of last year. But after he was brought in by a…

Feb 24, 2011 11:30 PM CST

Snow Holiday to Extend Through Thursday at Cook County Courts After Chicago Blizzard

A snow holiday today will extend through tomorrow at Cook County Circuit Court following a major blizzard in Chicago, announces a notice on the circuit’s website. “Due to inclement weather, by an order of Chief Judge Timothy Evans, the Circuit Court and the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit…

Feb 3, 2011 12:51 AM CST

Judge Posner Confesses He Was Unable to Master the Hated Bluebook While at Harvard Law School

Judge Richard Posner hasn’t mastered the 511 pages that make up the latest edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. The Chicago-based federal appeals judge hasn’t even read it in detail. “I have dipped into it, much as one might dip one’s toes in a pail of freezing…

Jan 27, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Suspect in Shooting of Giffords and Judge Roll Web-Searched Assassins Before Massacre, Officials Say

Suspected in what officials consider a political assassination, Jared Loughner was looking for information about lethal injections and assassinations prior to shooting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 other individuals&mdash including federal distritc Judge John Roll&mdash in Tucson, Ariz., earlier this month. “He was looking at websites related to lethal…

Jan 26, 2011 11:02 PM CST

Ex-Chicago Police Commander Accused of Torturing Suspects Gets 4.5 Years for Perjury

“[A]s unrepentant during his sentencing hearing as he was during his trial,” a former Chicago police commander notorious for his claimed role in widespread torture of minority suspects that led to multiple wrongful convictions decades ago was sentenced today for perjury, writes columnist Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times. Jon…

Jan 22, 2011 1:10 AM CST

Avowed Neo-Nazi Convicted of Soliciting Attack on Juror, Although Web Posting Didn’t Exactly Say So

An avowed neo-Nazi who posted the photo, name, home address and phone number of a juror who helped convict self-proclaimed white supremacist Matthew Hale in 2004 of soliciting the murder of a federal judge in Chicago has now himself been convicted of a crime. William White, 33, was convicted by…

Jan 5, 2011 9:17 PM CST

Decisions on Coffee Makers and Baggy Pants Earn Honors for Best Legal Writing

International contract disputes aren’t usually high on legal reading lists, but there is one that should be. A majority and concurring opinion (PDF) by two judges for the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were among the best pieces of legal writing named by The Green Bag, the legal…

Jan 5, 2011 11:29 AM CST

Shock Jock Hal Turner Gets 33 Months for Threatening 7th Circuit Judges in Blog Post

Defiant to the end, an Internet radio shock jock sought probation today for saying in a blog post that three federal appeals court judges in Chicago “deserved to be killed” for their rulings in gun-ban litigation while simultaneously accusing the judge in his own Brooklyn federal court case of “legal…

Dec 21, 2010 8:38 PM CST

DOJ Sues School District for Allegedly Refusing to Accommodate Teacher’s Pilgrimage to Mecca

By refusing to consider a request by a Muslim school teacher for nearly three weeks of unpaid leave that would allow her to take a pilgrimage to Mecca, a suburban Chicago school district violated her civil rights, the U.S. Department of Justice contends. In a lawsuit filed in federal court…

Dec 15, 2010 2:00 AM CST

Lawyer Can’t Resign from Bar to Avoid Embarrassing Expulsion, 7th Circuit Says

A federal appeals court is refusing to allow a disbarred lawyer to resign from the federal bar in an apparent effort to avoid the embarrassment of expulsion. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the case of Lawrence Scott Wick, who was disbarred by the state of…

Dec 14, 2010 2:43 PM CST

Parents of Boy, 11, Hit in Head by Ball Sue Aluminum Bat Maker

The parents of an 11-year-old pitcher who was struck in the head by a line drive earlier this year are suing the maker of the aluminum bat with which the ball was hit. In the federal lawsuit they filed today, Robert and Cheryl Schutter of Mokena, Ill., say the bat…

Dec 7, 2010 10:32 PM CST

7th Circuit Says Plaintiffs Lawyer ‘May Wish to Moderate His Fury’

A Chicago plaintiffs lawyer who compared a federal appeals panel to Simon Cowell of American Idol fame “may wish to moderate his fury,” according to an opinion denying the lawyer’s petition for a rehearing. The lawyer, Clinton Krislov of Krislov & Associates in Chicago, objects to a ruling by the…

Dec 6, 2010 2:15 PM CST