The Daily Herald recently took a look at a case being reviewed by the Illinois Supreme Court that has people bristling about soon finding their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights violated. The issue at hand? Whether or not the smells in your car amount to personal property and are therefore protected against unreasonable search and seizures.
The ongoing drama to appoint The Lord's Senate Appointee™ Roland Burris as the junior senator from Illinois may finally be resolved this week. Burris has stayed behind in Chicago while his attorneys have traveled to Washington, D.C. to clear up the "paperwork issue" that has prevented Burris from officially being seated. While senior Illinois senator Dick Durbin said it's likely Burris would be seated this week, with a decision possibly by this afternoon, but he also added, "This thing changes by the day." Well, that's the kind of certainty we like to hear from our elected officials. On yesterday's edition of CBS's Face The Nation, Durbin tried to put to rest rumors of efforts by members of the Senate to delay the appointment until Gov. Blaogjevich's impeachment trial concluded with a possible removal from office, thereby allowing an appointment by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. Said Durbin, "To wait until Gov. Blagojevich is removed could be a matter of weeks. I think Roland Burris' future and fate will be decided before then."
The Illinois Supreme Court has rejected Roland Burris's writ of mandamus to force Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to sign paperwork making Burris's appointment to the U.S. Senate official. While U.S. Senate leaders have said the lack of a signature is the reason they won't seat Burris, White himself has already said that his refusal to sign is purely symbolic and not legally required. The State Supreme Court agreed.
Because the secretary of state had no duty ... to sign and affix the state seal to the document issued by the governor appointing Roland Burris to the United States Senate, petitioners are not entitled to an order from this court requiring the secretary to perform those acts. Under the secretary of state act, the secretary's sole responsibility was to register the appointment, which he did.What effect this has on Burris's appointment is anyone's guess as Senate Leader Harry Reid had set the Supreme Court clearance as a stipulation to seat Burris but, again, White's signature is not legally required. Read the Court's opinion here [PDF].
AP Photo/Paul Beaty
The Illinois Supreme Court has dismissed - without comment - a challenge by state Attorney General Lisa Madigan to consider Gov. Blagojevich unfit to hold office. No other info was released but the challenge was a bit dubious to begin with, using a rarely invoked rule.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan made the first official move to unseat Governor Rod Blagojevich today by filing paperwork with the Illinois Supreme Court invoking Rule 382 - which Capitol Fax breaks down here - asking the Court to pass judgment on "the ability of the governor to serve." We're anxiously awaiting a Madigan press conference where she plans to explain in detail her move.
AP Photo/Mark Carlson
WBEZ condensed a day in the life of the Illinois Supreme Court into one awesome minute. (And...was that a shout-out to one of the State's most intriguing cases?)
Busy day in these parts, what with the CTA planning on cutting every bus we take to get anywhere. High fives for reader Keven Hisson for sending us these really funny punked CTA posters. (More after the jump.) But on to the extras: Police still don't have a suspect in Ronald Heard, Jr.'s murder. Heard, the son, godson and nephew of police officers, was shot and killed outside a White Castle on the South...
It was about time Mayor Daley entered the fray surrounding the Chicago Children’s Museum’s proposed move to Grant Park. To exactly no one’s surprise, he favors the plan. Loves it so much he’s enlisted his good buddies false choice and specious reasoning. Make no mistake: if you oppose the Museum’s move to Grant Park, you hate children. You want them to grow up miserable, lacking any sense of civic pride or patriotism, addicted to meth,...
The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld a Chicago law prohibiting alcohol from being served at clubs that allow nude dancing. Therefore, anyone who likes to sit at VIPs on Kingsbury with a vodka tonic in one hand and a woman who would never talk to you during high school in the other is advised to get there pronto.
It’s been 11 years since the Illinois General Assembly passed a parental-notification abortion law, but it has never gone into effect. That’s something the Illinois Supreme Court plans to change. Chief Justice Robert Thomas called a suburban Christian radio show last week and said he planned to revive the law, which would prohibit minor girls from getting abortions without parental consent.
We just can’t get enough of our cigarette stories, eh? We get our half-assed smoking ban. We get the mayor’s cigarette tax hike. And now we get the Illinois Supreme Court overturning a verdict that was supposed to cost Philip Morris $10 billion.
As expected, Mayor Daley once again announced a package of gun legislation he hopes state legislators will pass in their coming session that starts January 10. The basic idea behind the package is to "...give the courts the power to fine and shut down gun dealers who help customers avoid background checks; who sell them large numbers of handguns without filing the required reports; or who sell handguns to residents of cities like Chicago where they are illegal."
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