Page 17 - Celeste Bott News Today

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, once the Prairie State's most powerful politician, was indicted Wednesday on racketeering and bribery charges, after months of prosecutors pursuing a sprawling public corruption probe that has already ensnared some of his former aides and allies.

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, once the Prairie State's most powerful politician, was indicted Wednesday on racketeering and bribery charges, after months of prosecutors pursuing a sprawling public corruption probe that has already ensnared some of his former aides and allies.

The mask mandate for Illinois courts was lifted on Monday, as indoor mask requirements also ended throughout the state, though an Illinois Supreme Court order still allows individual circuit courts to adopt their own mask rules based on local public health guidance.

A Cook County jury on Thursday awarded $1.8 million to a Texas woman who said she was sexually assaulted by a security guard while staying at a Chicago-area Holiday Inn and claimed that the hotel's negligence allowed the assault to take place.

An Illinois federal judge refused to dismiss public corruption charges against Commonwealth Edison Co.'s former CEO and other ex-lobbyists and executives on Thursday, saying prosecutors didn't need to allege a quid pro quo to bring charges that the former employees conspired to bribe public officials in a push for favorable energy regulation.

An Illinois federal judge ruled Monday that facial recognition technology company Clearview AI does not have a First Amendment right to dodge multidistrict litigation claims that it unlawfully collected biometric information from photos on the internet.

An Illinois federal judge Friday trimmed most of a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Family Dollar of misleading consumers by marketing its brand of snack almonds as "smoked" even though they weren't roasted over an open fire, and held that the plaintiffs aren't entitled to injunctive relief.

An Illinois Supreme Court ruling raises the stakes for business owners facing massive biometric privacy damages as the court must next decide whether those damages accrue for every day a company demands an employee's fingerprint without consent, or just the first such violation.

An Illinois federal jury sided with Volvo on Thursday in a retrial over a U.S. Army reservist and former employee's claim that the carmaker wrongfully fired her out of frustration over her military service and the absences it required.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state's Workers' Compensation Act doesn't preempt claims for statutory damages under Illinois' biometric privacy law, obliterating a defense routinely invoked by employers and finally providing clarity for a flood of paused lawsuits to now proceed against companies.