2015 Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 501 - 1000 of 1065
Date: July 14, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2243, 14-2132
Justia Opinion Summary: Employees of Instant, an information-technology staffing firm sign agreements in which they promise not to solicit business from Instant’s clients, not to recruit Instant’s employees to other jobs, and not to disclose…
Date: July 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2935
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph, a Nigerian citizen, entered the U.S. unlawfully in 1991 and was placed in removal proceedings after convictions for theft and bank fraud. He argued his marriage to a U.S. citizen as a basis for adjusting his…
Date: July 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1124
Justia Opinion Summary: An informant bought cocaine from Davis and introduced him to an undercover agent, posing as a drug courier. The agent recruited Davis to rob a stash house, which he said contained 50 kilograms of cocaine. Davis recruited…
Date: July 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2707
Justia Opinion Summary: Burks and Jones were hired as Union Pacific “Signal Helpers.” During orientation in January 2011, they were informed that they would be employed through December 2015, or until the company “moved in a different…
Date: July 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3602
Justia Opinion Summary: Fort Wayne officer Brown went to serve Mackin with a valid arrest warrant. After placing him in handcuffs, Ramon searched Mackin and recovered, from his pocket a loaded handgun. Brown recorded its serial number on an…
Date: July 10, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2252
Justia Opinion Summary: Procaccio purchased its workers' compensation insurance from West Bend. This litigation concerns three policy years: 2006, 2007, and 2010. Procaccio contends that West Bend’s offset procedure effectively nullified its…
Date: July 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1330
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, the billionaire creator of Beanie Babies, pled guilty to one count of tax evasion after hiding assets in a Swiss bank account, made full restitution, and paid a $53.6 million civil penalty. On appeal, the…
Date: July 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3026
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002, Ribota was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, after a search revealed 25 kilograms of cocaine and…
Date: July 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3232
Justia Opinion Summary: VDF has trademark and patent rights in “CoffeeBerry” extract and licensed J&J to make and sell CoffeeBerry-based skin-care products. VDF was entitled to “running royalties,” based on the number of sales by the licensee,…
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1776, 14-1777
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal concerns the District's construction of an ambitious project to impound water until it can be cleaned up and released safely: the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP). The United States and the State of Illinois…
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1777
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1915
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a civil detainee in Illinois, appealed an adverse jury verdict in his deliberate indifference suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against a facility physician. Plaintiff alleged that the district court should have…
Date: July 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3103
Justia Opinion Summary: Jones and others pickpocketed wallets and bought stolen wallets to create counterfeit driver’s licenses and checks, producing at least 60 counterfeit documents. With stolen checkbooks belonging to at least 26 people,…
Date: July 8, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1825
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, airplane passengers, filed suit against Boeing in state court after a Boeing 777 hit a seawall at the end of a runway at the San Francisco International Airport and injured 49 passengers, killing three…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 12-3084
Justia Opinion Summary: Inmate Perez was injured during a prison basketball game. A nurse wrapped his hand. She could not provide medicine or stitch his wound. The following day, Perez saw a physician who prescribed antibiotics, but did not…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3416
Justia Opinion Summary: Davis, a civil detainee under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, sued security guards under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that they refused to remove Davis’s hand restraints while he used the restroom and then…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1119
Justia Opinion Summary: Smith was a part-time police officer and owned security and towing businesses. Detective Anderson began investigating Smith for employment tax crimes and other offenses. She enlisted Roberson, Smith’s employee and close…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1986
Justia Opinion Summary: Bell established mutual funds, raised $2.5 billion, and invested in vehicles managed by Petters, who said that he was financing Costco’s electronics inventory. Instead he was running a Ponzi scheme, which collapsed in…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3294
Justia Opinion Summary: Choice Hotels sued SBQI, its managers, and investors, for breach of a franchise agreement. The defendants did not answer the complaint. The court entered a default. One defendant, Chawla, an Illinois attorney, had…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3632
Justia Opinion Summary: Bell established mutual funds, raised $2.5 billion, and invested in vehicles managed by Petters, who said that he was financing Costco’s electronics inventory. Instead he was running a Ponzi scheme, which collapsed in…
Date: July 7, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1097
Justia Opinion Summary: Moje, playing minor league hockey, lost an eye during a game, and sued Oakley, which made his visor, and the League. Instead of notifying its insurer, the League hired LoFaro. Oakley’s attorney called the League’s…
Date: July 2, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3911
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1982, Gacho was arrested, along with others, and confessed his involvement in two murders, signing a written statement. Gacho and Titone stood trial in Judge Maloney’s court. Gacho’s girlfriend was the star…
Date: July 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1647
Justia Opinion Summary: Because a 1999 issue of cumulative preferred stock was impairing the company’s ability to raise capital, Emmis signed holders of 60% of the preferred shares to swaps. Emmis purchased shares; the owners delivered their…
Date: July 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2262
Justia Opinion Summary: Officer Ortiz saw men in black hoodies and recognized Aranda, who had prior convictions for drug possession and burglaries. Aranda and Leo approached a nearby duplex. Police dispatch announced that a 911 caller was…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1846
Justia Opinion Summary: From 2007-2010, Harris and co-conspirators added themselves as authorized users on existing credit card accounts without the account holders’ knowledge or permission, then took cash advances, cashed convenience checks,…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2396
Justia Opinion Summary: Wheaton College, a nondenominational Illinois college, hires from a various Christian traditions and admits students of varied faiths, but requires all to sign a “Covenant” that requires them to “uphold the God-given…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2542
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs (a class of 1,593) alleged that Visteon failed to deliver timely notice to ex-employees, offering them an opportunity to continue health insurance at their own expense, under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2619
Justia Opinion Summary: Gonzalez-Koeneke worked, for 12 years, as a Rockford School District bus driver. She experienced problems with children on her bus and filed incident reports with Sharp and, later, went to West, the terminal manager. She…
Date: July 1, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-3371, 14-3369
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, residents of privately-owned Chicago building, received housing vouchers from the Chicago Housing Authority to enable them to rent apartments. They claimed that the Authority is complicit in and responsible…
Date: June 30, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-1503, 13-1502
Justia Opinion Summary: Lawson sold computer maintenance and support services for StorageTek. He was paid a base salary and commissions on his sales under the company’s annual incentive plan. Sun Microsystems acquired StorageTek in 2005. At the…
Date: June 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2568
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, unknown assailants shot and killed Marty, who had sporadically provided intelligence to narcotics officers in Belvidere, Illinois, since 2006. Marty’s mother, Flint, filed 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims. The…
Date: June 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3333
Justia Opinion Summary: Tilstra (an Ontario business) sued a Wisconsin manufacturer of dairy equipment, BouMatic. Tilstra had been a BouMatic dealer for about 20 years. Tilstra’s territory included “arguably the richest dairy county in Canada,”…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2930
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, CE filed a class action suit under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227, against King. King had commercial general liability and umbrella policies from three insurance companies, but all three…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3148
Justia Opinion Summary: Intercon, which provides electronic recycling services, engaged BAN to evaluate its business for certification as environmentally friendly. BAN concluded that Intercon shipped hazardous waste to companies in China that…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1390
Justia Opinion Summary: Kielar, a pharmacist, got many patients from Dr. Barros, whose office was in the same building, and began defrauding two insurance companies. Kielar forged prescriptions for Procrit under Barros’s name and submitted them…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2114, 14-1548
Justia Opinion Summary: Stanbridge is confined in a secured facility under the Illinois Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, 725 Ill. Comp. Stat. 207/1, which allows for civil commitment of individuals who have been convicted of a sexually…
Date: June 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3099
Justia Opinion Summary: Bell, a lawyer and photographer, alleged that three small Indianapolis business owners violated federal copyright laws and an Indiana theft statute by publishing on the internet a photo that he took of the Indianapolis…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1354, 14-3096
Justia Opinion Summary: Phillips and Arch violated the conditions of their supervised release and were returned to court for revocation proceedings. The district judge sent them back to prison based in part on the need to “hold [them]…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2365
Justia Opinion Summary: Tidwell, an Illinois inmate, file suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, claiming that three prison guards violated his Eighth Amendment rights when they failed to protect him from attack by a fellow inmate and then subjected him…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2984
Justia Opinion Summary: Gonzalez, a Milwaukee police officer from 1995 until 2011, was discharged from his employment after, in January 2011, he failed to report for work. Gonzalez is Caucasian and worked in District 4, a predominately…
Date: June 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3579
Justia Opinion Summary: DeBartolo, 48 years old, immigrated to the U.S. at the age of one, but never applied for U.S. citizenship. He is married to a citizen and his children are citizens. He has no family in Italy and does not speak Italian.…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3548
Justia Opinion Summary: In Apprendi, the Supreme Court held that facts increasing a defendant’s maximum permissible sentence must be determined, beyond a reasonable doubt, by the trier of fact. In 2002, in Harris, the Court held that facts…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2813
Justia Opinion Summary: In December 2010, DNA testing linked Sylla to an attempted bank robbery that occurred in August, 2003. The perpetrator had bled during an exchange of gunfire. Sylla’s DNA had been entered into CODIS by the Bureau of…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1792
Justia Opinion Summary: Former employees of an Indiana city sued the mayor and the city under 42 U.S.C. 1983, claiming that the mayor had fired them because of their political affiliations, in violation of their First Amendment rights. The…
Date: June 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2903
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayers petitioned the Tax Court for a redetermination of $18,030 in deficiencies and penalties for tax years 2009 through 2011. On the trial date, the IRs Commissioner submitted a “Stipulation of Settled Issues”…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2864
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006 plaintiff filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition, but later voluntarily dismissed the petition. A credit-reporting agency received a copies from Lexis and reported the petition “dismissed.” In 2009 the…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2990
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a casino investment venture gone awry, Balagiannis and Mavrakis entered into a settlement agreement: Mavrakis would pay Balagiannis $1.225 million. Balagiannis would dismiss pending federal court litigation…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3133
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission concluded that Battoo committed fraud. Battoo and his companies, all located outside the United States, defaulted in the suits. The…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3225
Justia Opinion Summary: Dixon was convicted of two armed bank robberies, 18 U.S.C. 2113(d), and sentenced to life in prison. A life sentence is mandatory under 18 U.S.C. 3559(c)(1)(A) because Dixon’s criminal record includes multiple prior…
Date: June 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3807
Justia Opinion Summary: Sprint wanted to expand its access to Illinois Bell’s infrastructure at regulated rates even when Sprint customers make calls to, or receive calls from, persons outside the region (Illinois) in which Illinois Bell…
Date: June 22, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3795
Justia Opinion Summary: Rossi was assaulted by several persons, one of whom was an off-duty Chicago police officer. Glenn Mathews, a detective with the Chicago Police Department, was assigned to investigate. For six weeks, Mathews did…
Date: June 22, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1229
Justia Opinion Summary: Perotti , convicted as a felon possessing ammunition, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), was sentenced as an armed career criminal to 210 months. Perotti was housed at the Terre Haute penitentiary, where he found employment as an…
Date: June 19, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1788
Justia Opinion Summary: An undercover agent saw Gary talking on the phone in the passenger seat of a car when the agent bought heroin from the driver. The driver made no attempt to conceal the drug transaction from Gary. Gary was seized…
Date: June 19, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3503
Justia Opinion Summary: The government alleged that Pulgar entered into such a conspiracy with Schmidt and Myers to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). Pulgar never met Myers, but Schmidt had.…
Date: June 18, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3305
Justia Opinion Summary: Lara, a citizen of Mexico, married a U.S. citizen in 1988. He gained conditional permanent residency based on that marriage but never completed the process necessary to obtain unconditional permanent residency, 8 U.S.C.…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: 12-3604
Justia Opinion Summary: Demonstrators gathered outside an abortion clinic, planning to display signs containing images of aborted fetuses. Then-Officer Lalowski was finishing an overnight shift when he noticed the demonstrators and stopped his…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1196
Justia Opinion Summary: SGI sued Yogi’s, alleging trademark infringement. Attorney Harris filed trademark applications for Yogi’s. SGI served Harris with a subpoena, for his deposition. The deposition did not take place. The court ordered…
Date: June 17, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1108
Justia Opinion Summary: Following his guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamines, 21 U.S.C. 846, 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), Nichols was sentenced to 127 months in…
Date: June 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1809
Justia Opinion Summary: In the 1980s, Lockwood was convicted of felonies. After Lockwood his release, he owned an automotive repair business. In 2011, Lockwood’s friend, Curtis, approached him, upset that her brother had accused her of stealing…
Date: June 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2539
Justia Opinion Summary: Joyce and Thomas divorced in 1999. Thomas continued to live in her apartment and borrow money. They occasionally had sex. Joyce threatened to kick Thomas out many times. Around 2 a.m. on December 27, 2006, Cruz, the…
Date: June 16, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2975
Justia Opinion Summary: Flagg and her nephew stole identities and created fake identifications, traveled to other states to open credit card accounts, bought merchandise, and returned to Detroit to sell the goods. After being caught, Flagg pled…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3726
Justia Opinion Summary: Chicago Officers Coglianese and Bachler were on patrol when they observed Shields’s SUV partially blocking a crosswalk, in violation of an ordinance. The officers approached Shields, who was sitting in the SUV. Shields…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2048
Justia Opinion Summary: Ortiz filed a petition under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, seeking the return of his children to Mexico City. The children are currently residing in Chicago with Martinez,…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2958
Justia Opinion Summary: Shell worked for the City of Anderson Transit System (CATS) as a Mechanic’s Helper on the day shift for 12 years. According to the job description for the position, a Mechanic’s Helper may occasionally drive buses to…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3045
Justia Opinion Summary: The Illinois Business Brokers Act of 1995 requires brokers for the sale of businesses in the state to register. Brokerage agreements must be in writing. Promises to pay unregistered brokers for their services are…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3307
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, once a standout high school basketball player, sued 942 U.S.C. 1983) Valley View Community School District, and the Illinois High School Association, raising claims of First Amendment retaliation, equal…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3826
Justia Opinion Summary: Martin founded a street gang, the “Mafia Insanes” while serving 20 years in state prison for murder. After he was released on parole in 1998, Martin coordinated a sprawling Chicago narcotics distribution network. The…
Date: June 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2579
Justia Opinion Summary: After being caught in a “sting” operation, Adams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery affecting interstate commerce, 18 U.S.C. 1951(a), and to possessing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of…
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2354
Justia Opinion Summary: Liu a Chinese citizen in her mid-twenties, came to the U.S. on a student visa in 2011. She did not attend the school designated on her visa, instead taking free English classes in Chicago. Ten months after her arrival,…
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2620
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2704
Justia Opinion Summary: Presley was convicted of heroin and related gun offenses and of being a felon in possession of a gun. The judge sentenced him to 440 months in prison. Presley argued that, while in a cell near Breedlove, who testified…
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2748
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, Advance obtained a policy from Cincinnati Insurance on Middleton properties. After a 2011 hailstorm, Larson, Advance’s president, filled out a form reporting damage. Larson inspected the roof with Jorgenson, a…
Date: June 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3067
Justia Opinion Summary: Sorensen is the CEO of Inhibitor Technology, which produces rust-inhibiting products containing volatile corrosion inhibitor (VCI), branded with the federally registered trademark THE INHIBITOR. That word mark is owned…
Date: June 10, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3095
Justia Opinion Summary: Erramilli has been caught three times fondling unsuspecting women on airplanes. Once in 1999 and once in 2002, he took a window seat behind a young woman, and when she appeared to fall asleep, he reached forward and…
Date: June 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2145
Justia Opinion Summary: Arrested on August 31, 2012, Ramirez was indicted for cocaine offenses on October 4. At his October 15 arraignment, he pled not guilty. The court set a trial date. That date was continued twice at Ramirez’s request. At…
Date: June 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2989
Justia Opinion Summary: In the Democratic primary preceding the 2010 election, the candidates for Sheriff were Miller, a St. Joseph County Police Department sergeant, and Grzegorek. Grzegorek won the general election. Miller sought to be…
Date: June 9, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1848
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Milwaukee is defending several lawsuits brought by scores of plaintiffs alleging that its police officers conducted unconstitutional stops and searches, including strip‐searches and body‐cavity searches.…
Date: June 8, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1695
Justia Opinion Summary: At 4:15 p.m. on Friday, March 8, the plaintiff’s attorney in a civil-rights case opened an electronic case file in the Southern District of Illinois by e-mailing the complaint and civil cover sheet to the clerk’s office…
Date: June 8, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2506
Justia Opinion Summary: Nelson spent six months as the Director of Education at Sanford‐Brown College, a for‐profit educational institution in Milwaukee. After he resigned, Nelson initiated suit under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3729.…
Date: June 8, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2968
Justia Opinion Summary: Carhart and Halaska own CHI. CHI terminated its sales agent, MRO, which filed a federal suit for breach of contract. Carhart bought MRO’s claim for $150,000 and became the plaintiff in a suit against a company of which…
Date: June 8, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3559
Justia Opinion Summary: Moore and three others were arrested after a spending spree that involved their use of counterfeit debit and credit cards at Walgreens pharmacies. Moore was charged with conspiracy to use and possess counterfeit or…
Date: June 5, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1857
Justia Opinion Summary: Locke, a parolee, sued Haessig, a state official, under 42 U.S.C. 1983 for violating the Equal Protection Clause, based on how Haessig responded to Locke’s complaint that her subordinate, a parole officer, was sexually…
Date: June 5, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1881
Justia Opinion Summary: Mintz started at Caterpillar in 2005. In 2007, Mintz was promoted to manufacturing engineer: an intermediary between the design department and the production floor, supervised by Turpen. Mintz moved to a different…
Date: June 5, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1192
Justia Opinion Summary: After a sleepover at the Aleshire house, a nine-year-old girl reported to her mother having a “dream” that Aleshire had pulled down her pajama bottoms and photographed her “privates.” Her mother called the police.…
Date: June 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2317
Justia Opinion Summary: To fix a 2004 Teamsters election, Bania and the union president diverted ballots by changing members’ addresses in the database. They collected those ballots and cast falsified votes. After an investigation, they…
Date: June 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2400
Justia Opinion Summary: Stern worked at St. Anthony’s Health Center (SAHC) as Chief Psychologist, with supervisory, administrative, and clinical responsibilities. In 2010, Stern received an annual performance evaluation that assigned an overall…
Date: June 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2702
Justia Opinion Summary: Engstrand, a former dairy farmer, applied for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Insurance because of pain caused by diabetic neuropathy and osteoarthritis, in July 2010, when he was 47. He alleged…
Date: June 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3339
Justia Opinion Summary: Since 1989 Sveum and his brother owned a Wisconsin home-building company, Kegonsa. Kegonsa’s creditor, Stoughton Lumber had sued Sveum and his brother and Kegonsa under Wisconsin law, alleging breach of contract and…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-3523, 13-2649
Justia Opinion Summary: Brown defrauded Chicago-area mortgage lenders in 2004-2008, arranging with home builders and other sellers of new houses to receive fees for locating buyers to purchase their properties at inflated prices. Using his…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2072
Justia Opinion Summary: Over four years, Dade, a former licensed real estate agent, with co-defendants, facilitated loans to purchase residential real estate by knowingly providing lenders with false statements and documents. Dade referred…
Date: June 3, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3016
Justia Opinion Summary: Durukan America, a Texas candy company, sued Rain Trading, an Illinois wholesaler, and its president, Canbulat, breach of contract and deceptive practices for allegedly refusing to pay for $86,000 in merchandise. To…
Date: June 2, 2015
Docket Number: 12-1710
Justia Opinion Summary: Illinois inmate Taylor sued prison officials alleging civil-rights violations. His complaint included misjoined claims, one of which was a failure-to-protect claim against Officer Brown. A magistrate issued a show-cause…
Date: June 2, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1880
Justia Opinion Summary: In June 2001, Morgan County Deputy Starnes stopped Pruitt’s vehicle. Starnes called in Pruitt’s driver’s license and registration and was told that a recent robbery report suggested Pruitt might be in possession of…
Date: June 2, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3205
Justia Opinion Summary: Illinois parole agents and police officers conducted an unannounced parole compliance check at Lawrence’s residence. Lawrence’s fiancée, Williams, admitted them and motioned toward a first-floor bedroom. Agents saw…
Date: June 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3728
Justia Opinion Summary: World Outreach, a religious organization, purchased a YMCA building in a poor area of Chicago, planning to rent rooms to needy persons. The YMCA had a license for that use, even after the area was rezoned as a community…
Date: June 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1992
Justia Opinion Summary: Cruz pleaded guilty to distributing heroin, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), and was sentenced within the guidelines range to 160 months’ imprisonment. Cruz argued on appeal that the court erred in failing to consider his mitigating…
Date: June 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3406
Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas, a Wisconsin prisoner, was injured in the Dane County Jail, while being handcuffed after disobeying an order. Disciplinary proceedings followed. Pending his hearing, Thomas was placed in punitive segregation,…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3644
Justia Opinion Summary: Ramer was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1343, 1349. The conviction stemmed from a sham investment scheme in which Ramer and a codefendant solicited more than $1 million from individuals, but did…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2983
Justia Opinion Summary: Indiana inmate Kervin alleged, in a suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, that prison officials violated his constitutional rights after he insisted on being allowed to see his lawyer, who had come to the prison to speak with him.…
Date: May 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3370
Justia Opinion Summary: In the1980s, Habib married a woman in Pakistan and had three children with her there. It is unclear when or how Habib came to the U.S. In 1996, he married Bualice, a U.S. citizen, and three years later adjusted his…
Date: May 28, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1251
Justia Opinion Summary: Clark’s trucking business was hired to perform hauling services on a state‐ and federally funded highway project in Missouri. Because federal funds were involved, Clark’s contract with the project’s general contractor…
Date: May 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1794
Justia Opinion Summary: After an argument with his wife on their wedding anniversary, Jerome Weinmann went to his garage, drank half a bottle of vodka, and put the barrel of a shotgun in his mouth. He was unable to pull the trigger. Susan…
Date: May 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3619
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Jason Mucha filed suit against two Milwaukee police officers alleging they detained him without a warrant or other justification, thereby violating his Constitutional rights. Plaintiff himself was a Milwaukee…
Date: May 26, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2166
Justia Opinion Summary: After being convicted of conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, Macias created a bus company to transport legal Mexican immigrants. He was paid for moving money from the U.S. to Mexico.…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1537
Justia Opinion Summary: Milwaukee Officer Shull reviewed evidence that McMillian was involved in a 2007 double homicide and went to McMillian’s home to arrest him. Officers arrived at McMillian’s house without a warrant. Shull knocked and…
Date: May 22, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-3087, 14-3489, 15-1065
Justia Opinion Summary: Humphrey sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act on behalf of her daughter Teniscia, alleging that medical malpractice during Teniscia’s 2008 birth left her permanently disabled. Teniscia’s father, Lee, participated in…
Date: May 21, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3532
Justia Opinion Summary: In a securities-fraud class action, plaintiffs won a verdict of $2.46 billion, apparently one of the largest to date, against Household International and three of its top executives. The suit was based on a dramatic…
Date: May 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1204
Justia Opinion Summary: Childress claims that, upon completion of a prison‐sponsored reentry program at the Big Muddy River Correctional Center in Illinois, the instructor delivered a computer disk containing Childress’s resume to the property…
Date: May 21, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2002, 14-1508
Justia Opinion Summary: Griffin and Allison were charged with federal drug offenses arising from an investigation of drug trafficking by the Traveling Vice Lords street gang which operated on Chicago’s West Side. Griffin, Allison and four…
Date: May 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2222
Justia Opinion Summary: After years of working as a locomotive engineer, and more briefly as a limousine driver, Duncan applied for a disability annuity (Railroad Retirement Act, 45 U.S.C. 231a(a)(1)(v)) in 2010. His application alleged…
Date: May 19, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1751
Justia Opinion Summary: Hankins, convicted in Arkansas of felony battery, was re-released on parole in March 2007. She moved to Illinois, where she came under the supervision of Illinois Department of Corrections parole officer Lowe. Hankins…
Date: May 19, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2370
Justia Opinion Summary: Orr died in a motorcycle accident. His daughters sought benefits under a group life insurance policy governed by the Employment Retirement Income Security Act and issued by USIC to Orr’s former employer. The policy…
Date: May 19, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3073
Justia Opinion Summary: Dobek was an engineer in charge of providing parts for F-16 fighter planes owned by the Venezuelan Air Force. The U.S. State Department announced that munitions, including parts for military aircraft, could no longer be…
Date: May 18, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2587
Justia Opinion Summary: Xiong began working as a Dane County social worker in 1990, covered by a collective bargaining agreement that provided that the Union would assist employees in pre-disciplinary, grievance, and termination processes. In…
Date: May 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2081
Justia Opinion Summary: Boatman pleaded guilty to one count of bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a). After two hearings, the district court gave him a below-Guidelines term of 76 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release, rejecting…
Date: May 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3435
Justia Opinion Summary: Lake Street was obligated under a $1.5 million loan made by American Chartered Bank, secured by a mortgage. Unable to repay, Lake Street negotiated several forbearance-to-foreclose agreements. One required Lake Street to…
Date: May 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1934
Justia Opinion Summary: Castro, Brooks, and Florez sued their former employer, DeVry University, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging that DeVry retaliated against them by terminating their employment for complaining about their…
Date: May 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2692
Justia Opinion Summary: Burford agreed to facilitate the purchase and sale of accounting practices for APS. The parties initially signed a contract assigning Louisiana to Burford. They later orally agreed that Burford should also cover Alabama,…
Date: May 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3158
Justia Opinion Summary: Pidgeon pled no contest to second-degree sexual assault of a child; other counts were dismissed. Pidgeon claims that he accepted the plea because his attorney and the prosecutor told Pidgeon that, if he did not accept…
Date: May 11, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-3482, 13-3424
Justia Opinion Summary: Armstrong was imprisoned for 29 years for a rape and murder. He maintains his innocence. His conviction was set aside in 2005. In 2009 a Wisconsin state judge dismissed the charges because the prosecution had destroyed…
Date: May 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1866
Justia Opinion Summary: Martinez is a native of Guatemala. He became a lawful permanent resident in 2007. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to knowingly transfer a false identification document, 18 U.S.C. 1028(f). In 2013, the government…
Date: May 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2052
Justia Opinion Summary: After Pajian filed for bankruptcy, Lisle Savings Bank, a creditor, filed a proof of claim ($330,472.19) in the bankruptcy court, but missed the bankruptcy court’s filing deadline (set under FED. R. BANKR. P. 3002(c)) by…
Date: May 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3027
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009-2012, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club committed racketeering, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, extortion, illegal gambling, witness tampering and firearms offenses. A 49-count indictment…
Date: May 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3478
Justia Opinion Summary: The Andermanns obtained mobile phone service from U.S. Cellular in 2000. Their renewable two-year contract was renewed for the last time in 2012. It included an arbitration clause that “survives the termination of this…
Date: May 8, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1209
Justia Opinion Summary: Officers approached Ruiz’s car after they witnessed Ruiz engage in what they deemed to be suspicious behavior, including actions consistent with operating a “trap”—a concealed, non-factory compartment in a vehicle often…
Date: May 8, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1729
Justia Opinion Summary: Runnion was active in a troop run by Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, the largest regional Girl Scout organization in the United States. Megan is deaf. For several years she had sign language…
Date: May 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2008
Justia Opinion Summary: Johnson was convicted of state gun crimes arising out of a shootout. He sought state post-conviction relief. The court denied his motion; the court of appeals affirmed. Johnson had 30 days to seek review by the Wisconsin…
Date: May 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2888
Justia Opinion Summary: Reilly participated in a pension plan offered by Continental, which administers its own defined-benefit plan. The pension depends on the highest average compensation in any 60-month period of employment. “Compensation”…
Date: May 5, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3157
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to five years of probation for a drug offense in 2013. He violated his probation about six months later by, among other things, causing an accident and a resulting injury to another person by…
Date: May 5, 2015
Docket Number: 15-1028
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a Vietnam veteran, was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. In 2004 the VA declared him 100 percent disabled. Nonetheless, the Illinois Department of Human Services hired him that…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2709
Justia Opinion Summary: Hill pleaded guilty to attempted extortion and to making a false statement to federal investigators concerning his extortion of bribes from liquor licensees. The Seventh Circuit affirmed his sentence in 2011. Hill filed…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1921
Justia Opinion Summary: Hess, an attorney, had worked on a number of medical-malpractice cases before his law firm, Kanoski terminated his employment. Many of these cases settled after Hess’s termination, and Hess was not compensated. He sued…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2764
Justia Opinion Summary: Boultinghouse pled guilty to two counts of unlawfully possessing a firearm in interstate commerce after previously having been convicted of a felony offense, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). In 2011, Boultinghouse completed his…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3156
Justia Opinion Summary: Ortiz, working for a concrete products manufacturer, was in a sand storage bin trying to scrape its wall, when he sank and was engulfed by sand up to his neck. Workers tried to dig him out. Plant manager MacKenzie was…
Date: May 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2575
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Miller sought to build a four-unit condominium project on her Monona lot. The process stalled while Miller bought another lot, amended the plan, and abated an unexpected asbestos problem. She had unsuccessful…
Date: May 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1049
Justia Opinion Summary: Webster was convicted of a capital offense and sentenced to death. His guilt is not contested. At trial Webster introduced evidence from experts who concluded that his IQ is less than 70 and that he is retarded. The…
Date: April 30, 2015
Docket Number: 12-3742
Justia Opinion Summary: There was a burglary of the Buhr property. Olson’s neighbor had placed a deteriorated, unlicensed trailer on the Olsons’ property. Believing that it was abandoned, Olson fixed and painted the trailer, leaving it near the…
Date: April 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2736
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001, representatives from the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and Sysix Financial signed a master agreement, laying the groundwork for future leases of equipment from Sysix to Moody. In 2008, two lease schedules for…
Date: April 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2417
Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2011, defendant was arrested. While in state custody, he was told by a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent that ICE had placed “a hold” on him. If he posted bail, he would be seized by ICE and…
Date: April 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2529
Justia Opinion Summary: Wisconsin’s Governor has entered into gaming compacts with all of the state’s tribes (Wis. Stat. 14.035). The HoChunk Nation adopted an ordinance, authorizing Class I and Class II gaming on its lands. The Indian Gaming…
Date: April 28, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3671
Justia Opinion Summary: Senne parked his car on the street in front of his Palatine, Illinois house in violation of an ordinance. A police officer stuck a parking ticket face down under the windshield wiper; it included Senne’s name, birthdate,…
Date: April 28, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1891
Justia Opinion Summary: Chivalry contracted with Rehtmeyer to develop and manufacture a board game. Chivalry paid Rehtmeyer over $128,000, but the relationship deteriorated. Rehtmeyer never produced the game. Chivalry sued for breach of…
Date: April 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1398
Justia Opinion Summary: Eagan, Minnesota, assisted in apprehending Procknow, who had absconded while serving supervised release imposed by a Wisconsin state court for forgery. Authorities had received information that Procknow and his…
Date: April 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3091
Justia Opinion Summary: Highland Park, Illinois prohibits possession of assault weapons or large‐capacity magazines (those that can accept more than 10 rounds). The ordinance defines an assault weapon as any semi‐automatic gun that can accept a…
Date: April 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1526
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Suarez, a 75-year-old widower from Mexico, opened a checking account at an Illinois Chase Bank. DeMarco, the branch manager, assisted him. The two became friends. Suarez was trying to sell his three acre…
Date: April 24, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3269
Justia Opinion Summary: Moore was convicted of interference with commerce by robbery, 18 U.S.C. 1951, based on his armed robbery of a UPS truck. During the incident (one hour, 40 minutes) he held a gun and repeatedly threatened to kill the…
Date: April 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3316
Justia Opinion Summary: Illinois requires that motor carriers of property, conducting intrastate operations, obtain a license from the Illinois Commerce Commission, which requires appropriate insurance or surety coverage. A carrier complies by…
Date: April 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2856
Justia Opinion Summary: Brooks, a mother of two minor children, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Brooks reported her monthly wages of $6214.50 and her $400.00 monthly child support payments from her ex-husband; claimed applicable standardized…
Date: April 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1477
Justia Opinion Summary: Nadmid, a 57-year-old citizen of Mongolia, came to the U.S. in 2003 on a visitor’s visa. After being arrested for DUI, he voluntarily departed in 2006 and returned to Mongolia, where he started a business. Nadmid…
Date: April 21, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2604
Justia Opinion Summary: Schlemm, a member of the Navajo Tribe, and a prisoner, sought an order requiring the prison to accommodate his religious practices under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C.…
Date: April 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1492
Justia Opinion Summary: Responding to an emergency call, Gary, Indiana officers discovered and confiscated a loaded revolver in Sandidge’s residence. Because Sandidge had previously been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment…
Date: April 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2240
Justia Opinion Summary: While Johnson was on probation for a conviction for second degree assault of a child, his probation officers discovered more than 3,000 photos on Johnson’s phone. Most of the photos were sexually explicit and the officer…
Date: April 17, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3207
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Thurman, a drug dealer, attempted to bribe four Maywood police officers. They reported the attempt to the State’s Attorney. That Office also learned that an individual arrested by Maywood police had stated that…
Date: April 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1301
Justia Opinion Summary: An Illinois state trooper pulled over a vehicle driven by Helsene. Although it was December, Helsene was transporting two kayaks on top of his vehicle, which raised the trooper’s suspicion. After a K-9 unit detected the…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1013
Justia Opinion Summary: Ramirez, a courier and bookkeeper in an Indianapolis methamphetamine distribution ring, was arrested minutes after she left a stash house carrying five pounds of meth worth more than $100,000. A search of the house…
Date: April 15, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2527
Justia Opinion Summary: Kipp, an Illinois resident, purchased a chairlift ticket at Devil’s Head Ski Resort in Merrimac, Wisconsin. He claims that as a result of the “unreasonably fast speed” of the lift in the boarding area, he was injured…
Date: April 14, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1318
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997 Corcoran shot and killed four men at his Fort Wayne home. A jury convicted him of four counts of murder. The trial judge imposed a death sentence. After unsuccessful state court appeals, Corcoran sought federal…
Date: April 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1741
Justia Opinion Summary: Rhodes was charged with two counts of kidnapping. He retained Kovac. A jury acquitted him on one count; a different jury convicted him on the other. Rhodes appealed, claiming that Kovac had rendered ineffective…
Date: April 14, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2723
Justia Opinion Summary: Most federal employees receive health benefits through the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Until the 2010 enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), members of the U.S. Senate…
Date: April 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3012
Justia Opinion Summary: Modjewski pled guilty to possession and transportation of electronic child pornography. His collection included more than 12,500 images and 700 videos. At sentencing, Modjewski presented the expert testimony of Dr. Rone,…
Date: April 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1461
Justia Opinion Summary: Doe, a minor female, was drinking in a group at an apartment complex in Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect. A site manager called 911. Three males began moving Doe to a secluded area. She was so intoxicated that they…
Date: April 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2282
Date: April 13, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2909, 14-2282
Justia Opinion Summary: From 1998 to 2012 Abbott marketed the anticonvulsant medication Depakote for applications that had not been FDA-approved (off-label uses). Physicians may prescribe drugs for off-label uses, but pharmaceutical companies…
Date: April 10, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3521
Justia Opinion Summary: Air travelers sued Delta Airlines, seeking compensation for a nationwide class of persons who were inconvenienced when their flights from airports located in the European Union were delayed for more than three hours or…
Date: April 10, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-3777, 13-3076
Justia Opinion Summary: Makiel was convicted of the 1988 murder of Hoch and the armed robbery of a gas station where she worked. After exhaustion of state remedies, the district court denied his petition for habeas corpus, The Seventh Circuit…
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2301
Justia Opinion Summary: A class action antitrust suit on behalf of text messaging customers, claimed conspiracy by providers, in violation of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, to increase price per use. On remand, after three years of discovery,…
Date: April 9, 2015
Citation: 782 F.3d 867
Docket Number: 14-2301
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2599
Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiff applied for social security disability benefits in 2009, at the age of 43, claiming to be disabled by a cyst (a liquid-filled sphere) in her pineal gland, a small endocrine gland in the brain that produces…
Date: April 9, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3012
Justia Opinion Summary: Matthew, now 20 years old, is autistic. While he was a high school student in the St. Charles Community Unit School District, he received special-education services. Although he is now in college, he and his parents sued…
Date: April 8, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2482, 14-2135, 14-1223
Justia Opinion Summary: The Seventh Circuit consolidated three appeals that raised similar challenges to conditions of supervised release. Remanding the cases for resentencing, the court identified general sentencing principles: it is important…
Date: April 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1435
Justia Opinion Summary: Bozovich was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin. He argued that he was entitled to a new trial on the theory because the court the government to cross-examine him beyond the scope of his direct testimony and…
Date: April 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1889
Justia Opinion Summary: Mathin sought a declaration of United States nationality, claiming that his Indian-citizen parents had traveled for business while his mother was eight months pregnant with him, and that he was born prematurely in…
Date: April 7, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2743
Justia Opinion Summary: France had a Chicago dental business and fraudulently billed insurers for city employees. France closed his practice after being injured in an accident and started collecting benefits from a disability income policy. In…
Date: April 2, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-3738, 13-3732
Justia Opinion Summary: Enacted after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), authorizes execution, in satisfaction of judgments against terrorists, on blocked assets that are seized or frozen by the United…
Date: April 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3213
Justia Opinion Summary: The Glenns, real estate developers, asked a loan broker (Chung) to find them a loan. Attorney Sullivan agreed to lend the Glenns $250,000 repayable in two weeks with interest of $5,000 per week. They needed the money for…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3818
Justia Opinion Summary: Window washers employed or formerly employed by CCS filed suit under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 201, which requires an employer to pay hourly workers at least one and a half times their normal hourly wage…
Date: April 1, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2411
Justia Opinion Summary: Chen, a Chinese citizen, entered the U.S. in 2005. DHS sought to remove him as “an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled,” 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Conceding removability, Chen has…
Date: March 31, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2200
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1981, Lockett pleaded guilty to robbery. In 1982, he violated probation, pleading guilty to unlawful use of a weapon. In 1984, he pleaded guilty to possession of heroin. In 1990, he was pleaded guilty to armed…
Date: March 31, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1171, 14-1189
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, a Union Pacific freight train carrying steel injection molds to Plano Molding in Illinois derailed in Oklahoma; the molds broke through the floor of their shipping container, causing that train car and many…
Date: March 31, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1592, 14-1585, 14-1237
Justia Opinion Summary: Following an FBI investigation, 51 people associated with the Indianapolis Outlaws Motorcycle Club were indicted for 49 offenses. Most pleaded guilty to all charges. Bowser pleaded guilty to: wire fraud, extortion,…
Date: March 31, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2069
Justia Opinion Summary: Curtis, a lawyer, filed 1996-1997 returns reporting tax obligations of $218,983 and $248,236, but made no payments. His partner had taken $600,000 from the practice and declared bankruptcy; Curtis underwent an expensive…
Date: March 30, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2234
Justia Opinion Summary: Tomkins sent threatening letters to investment firms and their employees and then mailed packages to investment managers containing what appeared to be pipe bombs. The homemade devices consisted of a plastic pipe holding…
Date: March 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2592
Justia Opinion Summary: Reed claims that during a 2012 stay at the hospital, its staff ignored her requests, treated her poorly, refused to consult with her regarding her care, and physically injured her when she was forcibly discharged. An…
Date: March 27, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1769
Justia Opinion Summary: King filed a civil rights lawsuit, claiming that he was forced to wear a see-through jumpsuit that exposed his genitals and buttocks while he was transported from county jail to state prison and that this amounted to an…
Date: March 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2941
Justia Opinion Summary: The warrant affidavit stated that: a 14-year-old female began a Facebook relationship with “Nathan Solman,” who claimed to be her age; the victim sent “Solman” more than 300 “naked pictures of herself in varied sexual…
Date: March 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3104
Justia Opinion Summary: He, a citizen of China, entered the U.S. in 2007 through Indonesia and Canada. A year later He retained an attorney to apply for asylum based on mistreatment (arrest and beatings) that he had suffered in Fujian Province…
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1278, 14-1100
Justia Opinion Summary: DiFoggio worked as an FBI cooperating witness and introduced Medrano to a man purporting to be Castro, a health care consultant. Castro told Medrano that by bribing a corrupt official he could obtain contract approval…
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2303
Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiff, then age 40, applied to the Social Security Commission in 2009 for benefits, claiming to be disabled from gainful employment as a result of psychiatric disorders (depression and bipolar disorder), chronic…
Date: March 25, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2943
Justia Opinion Summary: While White was on parole from an Illinois state prison sentence, police suspected that he was involved in a shooting and had a warrant to arrest him. Before the police found White, they located his gym bag that he had…
Date: March 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3648
Justia Opinion Summary: Hutchens is a black woman. A large-scale layoff in the Chicago public schools system’s Professional Development Unit, where she worked, required the unit to decide whether to retain her or a white woman, Glowacki, who…
Date: March 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1419
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1999, Nelson, riding his bike away from a liquor store, received a fatal blow to the head. Eyewitnesses, Johnnie and Evans, identified Owens from a photo array and from a lineup. Owens was the only person in the…
Date: March 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-8030
Justia Opinion Summary: Matichak was injured at work in 2009 and filed a workers’ compensation claim. Matichak filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in 2010, disclosing the claim, valued at $7,500. About a year after the discharge, Matichak…
Date: March 17, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1807
Justia Opinion Summary: Lenjinac was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1987 and is a Muslim. From 1992 to 1995, Bosnia-Herzegovina was entrenched in a civil war, characterized by ethnic cleansing. Lenjinac’s family home was burned to the ground and…
Date: March 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1384
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a 13-month investigation of a drug-trafficking network that stretched from Mexico to California to Indiana, the government secured a warrant to search seven Fort Wayne, Indiana hoes. Sewell stayed in one of…
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2785
Justia Opinion Summary: A large commercial development in Kansas City, Missouri was aborted in the middle of construction due to cost overruns. When the developer would not cover the shortfall, the construction lender stopped releasing…
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1496
Justia Opinion Summary: Michael's brother, Kevin, purchased a lakefront lot. Michael was to cover expenses and ultimately purchase the lot. A dispute arose and Kevin put the lot up for sale. Kevin offered to reimburse Michael $54,049.10 and…
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1901
Justia Opinion Summary: Richardson was arrested by Indiana police in December 2011, for domestic battery and intimidation with a deadly weapon. A same-day search of his home revealed guns, a violation of state and federal law because he had…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1923
Justia Opinion Summary: In March 2013, Reeder received a letter from Phelon, the press secretary for Illinois Senate President Cullerton, informing Reeder that his request for Senate media credentials as a writer for the Illinois Policy…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2220
Justia Opinion Summary: Fridman paid her mortgage electronically, using the online payment system on the website of her mortgage servicer, NYCB. By furnishing the required information and clicking on the required spot, she authorized NYCB to…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2269
Justia Opinion Summary: Dr. Simpson, an African-American was recruited to apply for a position at BDCH in 2010. BDCH’s CEO offered Simpson employment with the concurrence of BDCH’s COO. Both were aware of Simpson’s race. BDCH paid the recruiter…
Date: March 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2536
Justia Opinion Summary: Souley, a citizen of Niger, entered the U.S. in 2005 on a visitor’s visa and overstayed. Apparently unaware of a 2008 removal order, Souley married a U.S. citizen in 2009. After his removal was reopened, Souley’s wife’s…
Date: March 10, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2634
Justia Opinion Summary: Campbell was convicted in Illinois state court of first-degree murder for participating in a mob-style beating. No physical evidence linked Campbell to the crime. The state’s case hinged on the testimony of three…
Date: March 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1642
Justia Opinion Summary: The owners of an adult entertainment establishment in the 500-resident Village of Dix that features nude dancing and permits customers to bring their own alcoholic beverages onto the premises, challenged the enactment of…
Date: March 9, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3291
Justia Opinion Summary: Love, who is African-American, was dismissed from the Milwaukee city hall renovation site, where he worked as a foreman, after a physical altercation with another worker. Cullen was the general contractor; Cullen’s…
Date: March 9, 2015
Docket Numbers: 13-3495, 13-2881, 13-3353
Justia Opinion Summary: Facing financial problems and lawsuits from victims of sexual abuse, the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. A Creditors’ Committee composed of abuse victims sought to void a…
Date: March 6, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3670
Justia Opinion Summary: Bailey was detained for 23 days while police investigated a 2009 Chicago schoolyard brawl that resulted in the death of another student. A video of the incident showed an attacker who punched victim as he tried to stand…
Date: March 5, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1041, 13-3079
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, Gerhartz lost control of his vehicle on a rural Wisconsin highway and struck an oncoming car. The Calumet County Sheriff’s Department responded. Paramedic Katalinick, treating Gerhartz, told a deputy that he…
Date: March 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2179
Justia Opinion Summary: Bouras, a citizen of Algeria, entered the U.S. in 1997 as a nonimmigrant business visitor and overstayed his visa. In 2006, while living in Chicago, he married Schreiner, who lived in Ohio. He was granted conditional…
Date: March 3, 2015
Docket Number: 12-3290
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003 Brown pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return. He was sentenced to five years of probation. In 2005, he was charged with conspiracy to engage in financial transactions to conceal the proceeds of…
Date: March 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1959
Justia Opinion Summary: Iqbal bought a gasoline service station and contracted with S-Mart Petroleum for gasoline. Iqbal then hired Patel to conduct the business, ceding operational control to him. He chose Patel on the recommendation of…
Date: March 2, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3436
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court certified a nationwide class action, alleging that Nestlé and Waggin’ Train sold dog treats that injured the dogs. The parties reached a settlement, to which the district court has given tentative…
Date: February 27, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3363
Justia Opinion Summary: The Internal Revenue Service determined that Gyorgy (who did not file tax returns 2001-2007) owed approximately $100,000 in unpaid income taxes, penalties, and interest for tax years 2002 and 2003. The IRS mailed notices…
Date: February 25, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1652
Justia Opinion Summary: Nelson, a former employee of the Lake County Auditor’s office, brought suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Katona, individually and as Lake County Auditor, and Lake County Indiana, claiming that she was unlawfully…
Date: February 25, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3790
Justia Opinion Summary: Since 1982 Chicago has provided free or subsidized health care to certain retirees who receive pension benefits. In 2013 the ordinance establishing those benefits expired. After being notified that they would have to pay…
Date: February 24, 2015
Docket Numbers: 12-3807, 12-3150, 12-3144, 12-3145, 12-3146, 12-3147, 12-3148, 12-3149
Justia Opinion Summary: When the dude ranch owned by a closely held Wisconsin corporation was sold, the shareholders planned to liquidate, but the asset sale had produced a sizable capital ($1.8 million) gain and the corporation faced…
Date: February 24, 2015
Docket Number: 13-1786
Justia Opinion Summary: Nearly two years after he stopped using CIBA contact lenses, Kallal sued the company, claiming that a defect had hurt his eyes. CIBA itself had spotted a problem of poor permeability with some of its lenses and had…
Date: February 23, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2063
Justia Opinion Summary: Keirkhavash did not depart when her tourist visa lapsed. Two days before the statutory deadline, she sought asylum, contending that Iran would persecute her because she had supported a group (MEK) seeking overthrow of…
Date: February 20, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2498
Justia Opinion Summary: Hall, an aviation mechanic, was discharged in 2001 by the military because of pain from an ankle injury. He was deemed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to be 70 percent disabled and to be “unemployable” in “a…
Date: February 19, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2574
Justia Opinion Summary: Austin, an Indiana inmate, was assigned, for one day, to do construction work in the crawl space of a parole office near the prison. Austin was punished in a prison disciplinary proceeding for having attempted to traffic…
Date: February 18, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1116
Justia Opinion Summary: When the applicant was 15 years old, “Harrington rods” were inserted into his spine to correct a 57-degree curvature of the spine. He then developed chronic back pains. He also has cognitive difficulties. At age 20 he…
Date: February 18, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2866
Justia Opinion Summary: Moslavac was convicted of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); (b)(1), and sentenced to 105 months imprisonment, with four years of supervised release. Three months before Moslavac’s…
Date: February 17, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2001
Justia Opinion Summary: McManus, on trial for murdering his wife and young daughters, decompensated during testimony. He had several panic attacks; his symptoms required two trips to the emergency room. He was treated with a combination of…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3610
Justia Opinion Summary: The defendant was ultimately convicted of bank robbery by force or violence, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a), and for brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. 924(c). He suffers from “antisocial…
Date: February 13, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2157
Justia Opinion Summary: Sibanda arrived in the U.S. on a non‐immigrant visa. She sought asylum in 2009, claiming that, after her husband died, her brother‐in‐law attempted to rape her and force her to become his second wife, in accordance with…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2676
Justia Opinion Summary: Spencer stopped paying her mortgage in 2008. In Wisconsin state court foreclosure proceedings, Spencer’s attorney, Nora, adopted an “object-to-everything litigation strategy and buried the state court in a blizzard of…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2978
Justia Opinion Summary: Taylor was convicted in 2009 of conspiring to distribute crack, possessing and distributing powder cocaine, possessing a firearm as a felon, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, in 2005…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3367
Justia Opinion Summary: Carter, an African-American male, holds an MBA and is a CPA. CSU’s College of Business hired him in 1986 as a temporary assistant professor. In 1992, CSU granted Carter tenure and promoted him to associate professor. In…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3622
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, Curvin applied for disability benefits under the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 401, alleging that she became disabled beginning in January 2009 from glaucoma, overactive thyroid, high blood pressure, difficulty…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1887, 13-3865
Justia Opinion Summary: HSBC initiated a Wisconsin foreclosure action on the Rinaldi’s mortgage. The Rinaldis counterclaimed, alleging that the mortgage paperwork had been fraudulently altered and that HSBC lacked standing to enforce the…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1965
Justia Opinion Summary: The Piltches were traveling in their 2003 Mercury Mountaineer in February 2007 when they hit a patch of black ice, causing the car to slide off the road and into a wall. Upon impact, none of the car’s air bags deployed…
Date: February 11, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2571
Justia Opinion Summary: Lodholtz was injured in the Pulliam factory and sued, seeking compensation. Pulliam filed a claim with its insurer, Granite State, which retained a claims adjuster, York. Pulliam assumed, erroneously, that Granite would…
Date: February 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1907
Justia Opinion Summary: Maurice Salem was admitted pro hac vice in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in connection with some commercial litigation. Salem represented Trade Well International, a Pakistani company,…
Date: February 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2607
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Dr. Kamal Patel was a physician who commonly prescribed home health care services for his patients. Federal investigators learned that defendant had been receiving undisclosed payments from Grand Home…
Date: February 10, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2663
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-appellant Patrick Novak filed suit against Southern Illinois University and three of its professors, alleging that he had been terminated from the University’s doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction on…
Date: February 9, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3284
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Christopher Baines pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin, for which he received a 240-month sentence in prison. Defendant appealed, raising three…
Date: February 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2034
Justia Opinion Summary: National Retirement Fund sought to hold Mezz Lender and Oaktree Capital responsible for multiemployer pension fund withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980, 29 U.S.C. 1381.…
Date: February 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2295
Justia Opinion Summary: The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), 18 U.S.C. 2721, prohibits individuals from knowingly obtaining or disclosing “personal information” from a motor vehicle record. Chicago police officers brought suit against…
Date: February 6, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2822
Justia Opinion Summary: Ledbetter, a black male, filed suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. 1981 against his former employer, Good Samaritan Ministries of Carbondale, Illinois, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3839
Justia Opinion Summary: Wagoner, a paraplegic since a 1996 accident, is incarcerated by IDOC. Five years into his confinement, Wagoner filed a complaint, asserting that IDOC failed to accommodate his disability, citing humiliating toileting…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1359, 14-1242, 14-1356
Justia Opinion Summary: Footstar operated the footwear departments in various Kmart stores as though they were islands. Footstar employees could only work in those departments unless they had written permission from Kmart. In 2005, a Footstar…
Date: February 4, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2053
Justia Opinion Summary: Rogers, Hardy and others waited across from a bank. When the first bank employee arrived, they drew guns and forced her inside. Under Rogers’s direction, she turned on lights and deactivated the alarm. She did not give…
Date: February 3, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3096
Justia Opinion Summary: Before the 2012 Wisconsin deer-hunting season, Pierotti bought a Remington rifle at Walmart. A clerk asked him to use a computer to complete ATF form 4473. The form asks whether the purchaser has ever been convicted of a…
Date: February 3, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1638
Justia Opinion Summary: Jones was charged with a 1998 Chicago shooting and convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. After exhausting state appeals and post-conviction remedies, he sought habeas relief under 28 U.S.C.…
Date: January 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1455
Justia Opinion Summary: Conley pled guilty to bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a) and was held in custody in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center while awaiting sentencing. During the early morning hours of December 18, 2012, Conley and his…
Date: January 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1482
Justia Opinion Summary: Jones, a United Airlines flight attendant, was fired for misconduct. He sued his union, claiming that because of racial animus and his complaints about discrimination, the union had not fairly represented him, 42 U.S.C.…
Date: January 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1570
Justia Opinion Summary: After his acquittal by a jury on burglary charges, Saunders-El sued members of the Rockford, Illinois police department, alleging that they planted his blood at the crime scene in an attempt to frame him. His complaint…
Date: January 30, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1730
Justia Opinion Summary: When Ameriprise Financial fired Renard, a financial adviser, for violation of the franchise agreement between the two, Ameriprise claimed that Renard owed it $530,000 on loans made to help Renard build his franchise.…
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3229
Justia Opinion Summary: Bailey pled guilty in 2011 to distributing crack cocaine and agreed to a prison sentence of 240 months. The agreement allowed Bailey to seek to modify his sentence if Congress or the Supreme Court determined that the…
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1660
Justia Opinion Summary: Miller, an African-American male, worked as a cook for Hospitality’s Sparx Restaurant. Miller became assistant kitchen manager and was a satisfactory employee. On October 1, 2010, Miler discovered racially offensive…
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-2768, 13-3302
Justia Opinion Summary: For 13 years Sklyarsky worked as a custodian at a Chicago office building, through different employers. In 2010, new supervisors began disciplining Sklyarsky. He complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…
Date: January 29, 2015
Docket Number: 14-3570
Justia Opinion Summary: Williams’s convictions and sentences (480 months) were affirmed in 2000. His collateral attack, 28 U.S.C. 2255, failed. His most recent effort, a “Motion to Correct Record” asks the district judge to revise the…
Date: January 28, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3208
Justia Opinion Summary: Barta was friends with Buenrostro, who was an associate of Medrano. Medrano had dealings with a man purporting to be a health care consultant (Castro) who told Medrano he could, in return for payment of a bribe to a…
Date: January 27, 2015
Docket Number: 12-2916
Justia Opinion Summary: Taylor engaged in sexual acts in front of a webcam during online chats with a law-enforcement officer posing as a 13-year-old girl. He was convicted of attempting to use the facilities of interstate commerce to engage in…
Date: January 27, 2015
Docket Number: 12-3790
Justia Opinion Summary: Champaign County Detectives executed a search warrant at the Olson home, looking for stolen items. They found nothing. Although they had no reason to believe that the Vinsons were involved in the purported theft and…
Date: January 27, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3577
Justia Opinion Summary: The defendant recruited a 19- year-old, two 16-year-old girls, and a 17-year-old by false promises of love and money, as well as by violence, and transported them across state lines to engage in prostitution. He was…
Date: January 27, 2015
Docket Number: 14-2155
Justia Opinion Summary: A woman of Sudanese extraction, the plaintiff worked in Jeffboat’s shipyard in Jeffersonville, Indiana as a welder from 2006 until she was laid off in 2011. She had been u a welder first class, doing the most difficult…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: 13-2877
Justia Opinion Summary: O’Gorman worked for Chicago from 1996-2007, as a carpenter and later as a General Foreman, placing city orders with Arrow Lumber, owned by Beal. After an investigation following reports from an Arrow employee, O’Gorman…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3815
Justia Opinion Summary: Haywood, with help from others, processed bogus applications for mortgage loans and caused $1.4 million in losses to the lenders. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1343, and was sentenced to 151 months’…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Number: 14-1352
Justia Opinion Summary: Bruce’s high-school boyfriend told a school official that Bruce had attempted to kill herself. The official contacted police. Officer Harris went to the home where Bruce was staying and detained her until a sheriff’s…
Date: January 26, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1908, 14-1892
Justia Opinion Summary: Hawkins and Racasi were analysts on the staff of a member of the Cook County Board of Review, when they accepted money from Haleem, a corrupt Chicago police officer acting as an undercover agent to reduce the penalties…
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3073
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3421
Justia Opinion Summary: Inmates Sorrentino and Neal purchased several items from Stateville’s commissary, but the prison later forbade inmates to possess those items (fans and a typewriter) in their cells. Their property was removed. They filed…
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3593
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Garten of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the conduct of telemarketing, 18 U.S.C. 1349, 2326(1). The district court then sentenced her to 168 months in prison and a five-year term of…
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Number: 13-3654
Justia Opinion Summary: Sprinkle applied for supplemental social security income. After exhausting administrative remedies, Sprinkle sought judicial review of a final decision that he was not disabled. The district court held that the agency…
Date: January 23, 2015
Docket Numbers: 14-1319, 13-3073
Justia Opinion Summary: Holocaust survivors and the heirs of victims sued the Hungarian national railway, the national bank, and private banks for the roles they played in the World War II genocide against Hungarian Jews. In 2012 appeals, the…
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