In a bizarre move, federal appellate Judge Richard Posner published a legal opinion — complete with photos — that accuses unsuccessful attorneys of "ostrich-like tactics." more ›

A Will County judge ruled a woman must stand trial for what her attorneys describe as a a freak accident. more ›

PRosecutors in Rod Blagojevich's retrial filed a 34-page complaint yesterday against the former governor's former attorneys, Sam Adam, Sr. and Sam Adam, Jr. more ›

The order requiring CPS to include racial minorities at the city's most sought-after schools, was thrown out by the US District Court Sept. 24, ending almost 30 years of enforced integration. The order required that white students could not account for more than 35 percent of the students at the city's most sought after magnet schools. WBEZ has more on the story here and you can read the full court decision here [PDF] more ›

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve today rejected Tony Rezko's request for a new trial. Much has been made of how the conviction rested on the testimony of Stuart Levine. Sayeth the judge in a 34-page opinion:

The government introduced substantially more evidence than just the testimony of Stuart Levine to prove defendant Rezko’s criminal conduct, including extensive corroborating wire taps. When viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, the government proved defendant’s knowledge and intent beyond a reasonable doubt. A new trial is not required in the interest of justice.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case of Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, an illegal immigrant and worker at an East Moline steel plant who earlier this year was convicted of aggravated identity theft and sentenced to 75 months in the federal pokie. (That's a lot of tax dollars going to incarcerate another country's citizen. Just saying.) The issue in this case involves the federal charge of aggravated identity theft and intent: i.e., must the government show that a defendant knew that the identification he or she used, owned or transferred belonged to somebody else in order to score a conviction? more ›

The Sunday shooting on the CTA’s No. 71 bus allegedly by Milton Wardlaw, was captured explicitly on seven cameras. Video footage shows riders diving for cover as a teenager was fatally shot in the head. more ›

Tony Rezko's October 28 sentencing date has been postponed indefinitely by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve since Rezko is still in talks with the government about cooperating with other federal investigations. A status meeting will occur in December. And for you conspiracy theorists out there: "The sentencing, originally scheduled for Oct. 28, just before the election, was likely to bring unfavorable publicity to Rezko's onetime friend Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama." more ›

Lawyers for Tony Rezko filed papers in court on Friday asking a Federal judge to overturn Rezko's conviction on the grounds that the testimony of Stuart Levine was "unreliable." Said Rezko attorney Mariah Moran: "The court should order a new trial on the ground that the record in this case, polluted as it is by the inherently unreliable testimony of Levine, leaves such a strong doubt as to Rezko's guilt that it would be a miscarriage of justice to let the verdict stand." more ›

It's been a year since former NBC 5 reporter Amy Jacobson appeared in a bikini at the home of Craig Stebic, husband of still-missing Lisa, a move that resulted in Jacobson's release from NBC 5. Now, she's fighting back against the rival network that aired a videotape of the incident. Jacobson and husband Jaime Anglada filed a $1 million lawsuit yesterday against CBS 2 for airing the infamous tape, claiming she has been unable to find work since the incident because CBS 2 portrayed her as "an adulteress and disreputable reporter." Chicago's personal Smoking Gun, Eric Zorn, has the court papers which claim the following: more ›

The fight between longtime Bridgeport staple Jimbo's lounge and landlords Ray and Donna DeGrazia took an unexpected twist when recent court filings indicated that the DeGrazias had reached an oral agreement to replace Jimbo's with a John Barleycorn. Barleycorn owner Sam Sanchez eventually backed out of the deal due to the continuing court battles and twists involving Jimbo's protracted eviction, which even owners Jimbo and Joyce Levato admitted is ultimately an academic conclusion. more ›

Do we ever get to read good news about Cook County? Probably not until 2010, and even then it's a crap shoot. more ›

Those of us who grew up in Chicago are used to watching Michael Jordan dominate on the court. Yesterday, MJ dominated in court as the Illinois Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in a case brought by Karla Knafel against the basketball superstar. more ›

"Law enforcement officials at all levels, from the detectives who investigate cases to the superintendent, as well as the state's attorney's office, have failed to properly police the police." Wow. The Trib goes all out today with a massive story about police shootings, and it's extremely critical of the CPD. According to the story, "More than 100 people have been killed in the last decade; 250 others have been injured. But only a tiny... more ›

A second teenager has been arrested in the string of robberies in Hyde Park the night Amadou Cisse was killed, but 17-year-old Demetrius Warren has not been charged in the murder. Warren has been charged with three counts of armed robbery and one count of aggravated discharge of a weapon for firing a shot at an attempted-robbery victim who ran away. Yesterday, 16-year-old Eric Walker was charged in the murder. Walker has a juvenille record... more ›

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and... more ›

Seven months ago, 55 percent of the people living loosely packed together in a space of about 20 square miles voted to incorporate as Campton Hills village in Kane County. There was a lot of back and forth, and harsh words were bandied. Now, in a startling upset, those opposing the village's creation and continued existence may have found a way to shoo away the winds of change. more ›

John Waters: Junk hoarder? Slum lord? Con man? (No, not that John Waters.) This Waters is an 80-year-old lousy neighbor who created a giganto junk house on the 4200 block of Melvina. The folks who lived around the trash heap (sadly not an oracle) were less than thrilled. James Parker, who lives next door, kept a close eye on Waters and even documented the junk man's movements with a point-and-shoot camera. Kopka called the... more ›

For over three years, artist Kathy Kozan has been keeping tabs on the unruly and often violent last call atmosphere at Chromium nightclub on her website LAKEandHALSTED.com. Her mission to detail the constant fights, shootings, and other misbehavior spilling out onto the street below her residence has attracted the likes of Channel 7's Chuck Goudie and, this week, Inside Edition. Kozan's persistence apparently paid off. On October 29th the city revoked all of Chromium's... more ›

Things were jumping at the Will County Court House. Lisa Stebic's children testified in front of a grand jury yesterday about their mother's disappearance six months ago. Craig Stebic, Lisa's estranged husband and person of interest in the case, hasn't allowed the police to interview his kids, even though they're two of the last people to see her. Lisa's family says they wanted the kids to be interviewed at a child advocacy center instead,... more ›

Tuesday we gave you the rundown of who is running for a Green Party nomination in Illinois, but among the candidates, one in particular stands out. Richard B. Mayers, a white supremacist connected with Matt Hale's Creativity Movement is running against Jerome "Jerry" Pohlen in the 3rd Congressional District. This isn't the first time Mayers has run for office. In 2002 he was removed from the ballot in the 9th Congressional District, leaving Jan Schakowsky... more ›

For real this time. While it's not exactly direct, he's not passing go and he's not collecting $200: Justice John Paul Stevens denied Ryan's request to remain out on bail while awaiting his appeal. Ryan, 73, is scheduled to go to prison on Wednesday. more ›

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.... more ›

NBC5 is trotting out a sweeps special they've named "The Woman Who Knew Too Much" (video), an exclusive interview with Anne Lockett, a key witness in the 1993 Brown's Chicken massacre. Lockett waited nine years to tell police that her ex-boyfriend James Degorksi and his friend Juan Luna told her about committing the crime, and in these interviews attempts to explain what took her so long. Degorski is still awaiting trial, but his alleged accomplice Luna was convicted and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year. Degorski's trial is scheduled to begin in February. Lockett was 17 in 1993, and was in the hospital following her fifth suicide attempt when the murders occurred; she says Degorski was abusive, but she was so depressed she stayed with him for two years. more ›

George Ryan is edging ever closer to the big house after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals denied today yet another request from the Ryan camp. This go-round, Ryan was trying to stay out on bail until the Supreme Court could hear his case, but the 7th said no. That leaves Ryan with just one option left: Ask the Supreme Court to extend his bail. If they decline, Ryan will head to the clink... more ›

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist... more ›

Jean Sliwinski was convicted of reckless homicide today and was also deemed mentally ill. She'll be sentenced November 26. George Ryan is supposed to report to prison November 7...unless Judge Posner's emphatic dissent is enough to convince the 7th Circuit to extend Ryan's bail until his case can be appealed to the Supreme Court. There are people who enjoy Ricky Henderson jokes. There are people who enjoy Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me jokes. Then... more ›

justices said "the evidence of the [Ryan]'s guilt was overwhelming," and they refused to grant Ryan an "en banc" hearing--which is when all 11 judges on the court hear a case together. Ryan's pretty much SOL at this point, but his lawyers say they'll appeal again, this time to the Supreme Court, though it's unlikely that court will hear the case. more ›

With the baseball season over for both local teams and the Bears falling flat on their face, what's a Chicago sports fans to do? Chicagoist has turned to the Bulls — even if it's only the preseason. Through three games of their seven-game preseason schedule, we're impressed so far. With last night's 97-76 win over the Washington Wizards, the Bulls stand at 2-1. Records don't mean much during the exhibition slate — teams give extended... more ›