Originally published on January 25, 2021 5:03 pm
The state’s highest court deadlocked Friday over how to interpret a state law that outlines the procedure judges must follow to sentence a minor who is found guilty of a crime to a state juvenile detention center.
The case, out of Rock Island County, raised the question of whether, under Illinois law, a judge must state directly in the court record that commitment to a juvenile detention facility is the “least restrictive” sentencing option.
The two-sentence opinion noted that Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert Carter, who was appointed in November to replace former Justice Thomas Kilbride, recused himself, leaving only six justices to decide on the case.
By Benjamin Cox on January 8, 2021 at 7:15pm
Illinois sex abuse victims in a school district can now file suit more than 2 decades after an incident. The Illinois 4th District Appellate Court panel affirmed a Sangamon County judge’s decision to deny a dismissal bid lodged by Board of Education of the New Berlin Community Unit School District No. 16 in a suit accusing a former teacher of sexually abusing an underage female student over a four-year period ending in 1989.
The ruling upholds 7th Circuit Judge Gail Noll’s ruling from March 2019 that the New Berlin Board of Education can be sued for conduct committed by former teacher Carroll Owen Smith.
Vaughan and Overstreet
Barry Vaughan was sworn-in at the Fifth District Appellate Court in Mount Vernon on Monday to serve by appointment of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Vaughan, 58, of McLeansboro, is an elected circuit judge in Hamilton County, of the Second Judicial Circuit. His appointment to the Fifth District came at the recommendation of Supreme Court Justice David Overstreet to fill the seat that had been occupied by Judge Mark Boie, who was elected to a permanent seat on the court in November.
In his remarks, Vaughan described his love for reading about historical figures including Abraham Lincoln and Red Cross founder Clara Barton as a gateway for his interest in law.
Sarah Mansur
Capitol News Illinois
In early July, a judge in downstate Clay County voided Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders in a sweeping order that he applied to the entire state, at the request of a southern Illinois lawmaker who sued Pritzker over his response to the pandemic.
More than six months later, Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow has essentially voided Judge Michael McHaney’s July 2 order in the case of Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia.
Pritzker’s lawyers asked Grischow last month to “reconsider” the July 2 order from McHaney, who initially presided over Bailey’s case before it was transferred to Sangamon County.