2012 Seventh Circuit US Court of Appeals Case Law
Opinions 501 - 1000 of 1035
Date: July 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2836
Justia Opinion Summary: Budrik sued Wegman for injuries sustained in an accident on a construction site managed by Wegman and was demanding almost presented a realistic possibility of a potential loss above the policy limit, $1 million), but…
Date: July 19, 2012
Docket Number: 12-8010
Justia Opinion Summary: In a class action under ERISA, the district court partially decertified the class, 3000 to 3500 members (57 to 71 percent). Plaintiffs appealed under Rule 23(f), which authorizes a court of appeals to “permit an appeal…
Date: July 18, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2677
Justia Opinion Summary: Tello and Hill, members of the Latin Kings street gang, pleaded guilty to a charge that they conspired to conduct the affairs of the Latin Kings through a pattern of racketeering activity, 18 U.S.C. 1962(d). Tello…
Date: July 18, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3109
Justia Opinion Summary: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sought an order to prohibit brothers George and Robert Michael, former owners, directors, (Robert), officer of Citizens Bank, from participation in the affairs of any…
Date: July 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2205
Justia Opinion Summary: While working as a flight attendant, LeGrande was injured when the aircraft encountered severe turbulence. She sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 2674, alleging that air traffic…
Date: July 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3802
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001, Dixon pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, with an agreement that the sentence would be 15 to 20 years. The district court imposed a sentence of 15 years, 10 months. In 2011, the Sentencing…
Date: July 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3299
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, Banks, a construction worker, wanted to flip houses, but did not have capital. John, a mortgage broker, suggested that they purchase homes from distressed owners at inflated prices, with the sellers promising to…
Date: July 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3722
Justia Opinion Summary: McKinney and his brother own a construction business. In 2003, the IRS filed notice of tax liens and pursued collection. McKinney avoided payment by transferring money from the business into accounts used for personal…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3115
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs are current and former drivers for FedEx delivery service who allege that they were employees rather than independent contractors under the laws of the states in which they worked and under federal law. The…
Date: July 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1453
Justia Opinion Summary: Mund, an American, married Liu, a Chinese woman in China. They moved to the U.S. For Liu to be admitted as a permanent resident, her husband had to sign an I-864 affidavit, agreeing to support his wife at 125 percent of…
Date: July 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2276
Justia Opinion Summary: Convicted of kidnapping, rape, and murder, Overstreet was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court of Indiana affirmed and denied a petition for post-conviction relief. The district court denied his habeas corpus petition.…
Date: July 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1136
Justia Opinion Summary: Marantz practiced pulmonary and critical care medicine. In 1997 she underwent surgery for a herniated disc and degenerative disc disease. The surgery did not eliminate her pain. In 1999, she stopped working full time.…
Date: July 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3862
Justia Opinion Summary: Samuel Milligan, then a freshman at Southern Illinois University, had uncomfortable encounters with a professor emeritus at, and substantial donor to, SIU, during which Meyers touched Milligan inappropriately and…
Date: July 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2747
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Sojka was working on the upper floors of the Chicago Trump Tower construction project, trying to repair a steel cable that held safety netting around the upper floors of the project when the wind knocked him…
Date: July 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3142
Justia Opinion Summary: Jawad, a Jordanian citizen, entered with his wife and son on a non-immigrant visa that expired in 1987. Before 1989, they had five more children in the United States. In 1998, they divorced. Six months later,…
Date: July 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3153
Justia Opinion Summary: A former bailiff-nightclub owner, then 70 years old, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), and possession of an unregistered firearm. 26 U.S.C.…
Date: July 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3920
Justia Opinion Summary: Losing money on every box fan it sold, Lakewood authorized CAM to practice Lakewood’s patents and put its trademarks on completed fans. Lakewood was to take orders; CAM would ship to customers. CAM was reluctant to gear…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1486
Justia Opinion Summary: Mota was convicted of attempting to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and of possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 21 U.S.C. 846. At the start of his jury…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3838
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of conspiring to entice underage girls to engage in prostitution, to transport them (along with adult women) in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, to use force and fraud to coerce…
Date: July 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1954
Justia Opinion Summary: Collins served as a city councilman and vice-mayor of East St. Louis. In 2002 he moved to the suburbs, but continued to use his previous address to vote East St. Louis and to establish residency for election to as…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1951
Justia Opinion Summary: Griffin was convicted of intentional possession of a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The Seventh Circuit reversed. Griffin was living with his parents and was, therefore, present in a…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3085
Justia Opinion Summary: TAMS, a medical device manufacturer, hired Comtrans to coordinate shipment of equipment to a trade show in Chicago. Comtrans is not a carrier. It used its affiliate, ACS, which retained Atlas to perform the actual…
Date: July 5, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1364
Justia Opinion Summary: Breshers entered a consumer installment loan business with a gun. Employees M and T told him they had no money. He directed them to leave their cell phones, lock the office, and get into T’s car. In the car, Breshers…
Date: July 3, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2567
Justia Opinion Summary: A former inmate sued under the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C.794–94e, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12111–213, and the Eighth Amendment, claiming that prison officials ignored his need for placement in an…
Date: July 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2137
Justia Opinion Summary: An Illinois prisoner who alleges that he is confined to a wheelchair because of an unspecified “nerve condition” claimed that, by applying a quorum rule, prison officials subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment and…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3839
Justia Opinion Summary: The Directors & Officers Liability policy contains an insured vs. insured exclusion that removes the duty to defend or indemnify for “Loss on account of any Claim ... by or on behalf of any Insured or Company in any…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1792
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Nelson, a minority shareholder and major creditor of RTI sued CHSWC alleging conspiracy with RTI’s majority shareholders to use RTI’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy to enrich themselves, tortious interference with RTI’s…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2312
Justia Opinion Summary: Hill and his wife incorporated a tax service business, run out of their apartment, then obtained the names, birth dates, and social security numbers of real individuals and filed approximately 121 false tax returns for…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3288
Justia Opinion Summary: Medlock was a student at Indiana University, living in a single room in a dormitory. As part of a routine “health and safety inspection,” two University resident assistants searched Medlock’s dormitory room for safety…
Date: June 29, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1140
Justia Opinion Summary: After being arrested for weapons crimes stemming from his possession of a loaded handgun, defendant contacted his girlfriend and asked her to file a complaint with the Chicago Police Department, alleging that his…
Date: June 28, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3656
Justia Opinion Summary: An informant, endorsed as reliable, stated that he saw known meth cook Barttelt brew meth at a specific hunting cabin; that he had seen an anhydrous ammonia tank at the cabin within the week; that a locked cable blocked…
Date: June 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3400
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2000, C&D hired Jones, who had periodic leg and back pain and bouts of anxiety, requiring him to see a physician once every two or three months and to undergo tests two or three times per year. He took prescription…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1712
Justia Opinion Summary: Most of the world's reserves of potash, a mineral used primarily in fertilizer, are in Canada, Russia, and Belarus. Defendants are producers with mines in those countries. Plaintiffs are direct and indirect potash…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2581
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff and his mother lived in public housing. His mother was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine and resisting law enforcement officers; she later pleaded guilty. Less than one month later she received…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3272
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly and intentionally using a communication facility in committing, causing, or facilitating a drug trafficking crime, 21 U.S.C. 843(b). The district court sentenced him to…
Date: June 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3495
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant’s llama escaped its pen and wandered off and he was charged with misdemeanor abandonment under the Illinois animal cruelty statute. Rather than hire a lawyer, defendant pled guilty and paid a $525 fine. Three…
Date: June 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1949
Justia Opinion Summary: Ekstrand taught kindergarten from 2000 to 2005. In 2005, she was reassigned to teach a first-grade class at her own request. She was relocated to a classroom with no exterior windows in a busy, loud area of the school.…
Date: June 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3730
Justia Opinion Summary: Crown hired LMI to construct an office building. LMI subcontracted installation of windows and doors to Frontrunner. Frontrunner was required to maintain insurance that named LMI as an additional insured. Frontrunner…
Date: June 25, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3607
Justia Opinion Summary: Griffin, a futures commission merchant, went bankrupt in 1998 after one of its customers, Park, sustained trading losses of several million dollars and neither Park nor Griffin had enough capital to cover the…
Date: June 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1232
Justia Opinion Summary: Safeco issued plaintiffs a homeowner’s policy that went into effect when they closed on the property and covered all accidental direct physical loss to property, unless limited or excluded, “occurring during the policy…
Date: June 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3550
Justia Opinion Summary: Sims pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, i18 U.S.C. 922(g). The district court sentenced Sims to 180 months’ imprisonment after it determined that three of his previous convictions triggered the…
Date: June 22, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3894
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury twice viewed a video of Wysinger’s interrogation by a Drug Enforcement Agencyagent. Wysinger challenged admission of the video on the grounds that the Miranda warning was inadequate and that the agent continued to…
Date: June 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3261
Justia Opinion Summary: Former inmates of Cook County Jail filed a class action under 42 U.S.C. 1983, charging that failure to provide more than a single dentist to 10,000 inmates constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Eighth…
Date: June 19, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1265
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff alleged that Courtcall, which gives notices to litigants; fellow tenants in his building; a police officer; the Dane County District Attorney; the Governor of Wisconsin; and a former Prime Minister of Singapore…
Date: June 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3066
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were high school football players that earned scholarships to play for National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football programs. Both suffered career-ending football injuries at college. Their…
Date: June 15, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2683
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant owned three restaurants, kept two sets of books, and underreported gross receipts. The government discovered the fraud when he listed a restaurant for sale. A fact sheet prepared by the broker calculated…
Date: June 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3052
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was ordered removed to Mexico in 2004 and appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which affirmed. Almost two years later, he moved to reopen based on ineffective assistance of counsel. A motion to reopen…
Date: June 13, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3285
Justia Opinion Summary: When Sears, Roebuck & Co. merged with Kmart in 2005, the company formed as the parent (Sears) inherited directors from both. Crowley also serves on the boards of AutoNation and AutoZone; Reese is also on the board of…
Date: June 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2433
Justia Opinion Summary: Tichenor pleaded guilty to armed robbery and discharging a firearm in connection with robbing a bank, retaining the right to appeal the applicability of the career offender sentencing guideline at U.S.S.G. 4B1.1.…
Date: June 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3387
Justia Opinion Summary: Arizanovska, born in Macedonia, was employed part-time by Wal-Mart, as an overnight stocker. After experiencing some vaginal bleeding while pregnant, she informed Wal-Mart that her doctor told her that she could not…
Date: June 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2594
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant supervised a "mule" who obtained heroin in Texas and transported it to Chicago as part of an enterprise with four confirmed participants. Following his conviction, the district court followed the…
Date: June 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2891
Justia Opinion Summary: Investors joined together to buy property. To finance the purchase, they formed a distinct limited liability company, IPA, to negotiate and execute a loan on their behalf with Morgan Stanley. Okun was manager of IPA,…
Date: June 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2975
Justia Opinion Summary: From 2005-2007 plaintiff, an African-American, was employed as a driving instructor for defendant, a trucking company. After a number of incidents involving reported use of racial slurs and warnings about attendance,…
Date: June 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3314
Justia Opinion Summary: Facing charges of conspiracy to kidnap, unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, defendant agreed to plead guilty solely to the marijuana-conspiracy…
Date: June 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2620
Justia Opinion Summary: An episode of the animated television show, South Park, entitled “Canada On Strike,” satirized the 2007-2008 Writers’ Guild of America strike, popular viral videos, and the difficulty of monetizing Internet fame. In the…
Date: June 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2957
Justia Opinion Summary: A suit seeking to represent a class of inmates at the “supermax” Tamms Correctional Center, alleging due process violations, was dismissed. The Seventh Circuit reversed. While remand was pending, the Illinois Department…
Date: June 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1839
Justia Opinion Summary: While vacationing in Arizona, plaintiffs contracted to purchase a condominium in a planned development in Mexico. The project was managed by defendant, an Arizona resident. After making the first of three installment…
Date: June 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2034
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of armed bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a), and sentenced to the statutory maximum of 240 months, in part because of previous convictions for the same crime. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, upholding…
Date: June 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3679
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff owned a rental center and retained defendants, who provide investment banking services to the equipment rental industry, to help him obtain an investor or buyer. Defendants’ advice culminated in sale of a…
Date: June 5, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2835
Justia Opinion Summary: During a narcotics investigation, an informant (Tucker's brother-in-law) told the Task Force that Tucker was in possession of a stolen backhoe. Investigator Williams went to Tucker’s house, observed a backhoe, and asked…
Date: June 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2418
Justia Opinion Summary: Attorney Mehta was charged with converting escrow funds and lying to a state court. After a hearing, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission recommended disbarment. While the recommendation was…
Date: June 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3876
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006 police seized unregistered guns from Justice’s business. He sued and lost. In 2010 Justice sued again, based on the same events, and lost again. Justice asked the court to reconsider under FRCP 59(e). The…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3679
Justia Opinion Summary: Christmas and Banks were acquitted of drug charges. Banks, on behalf of herself and her infant daughter sued the city and police officers, asserting violations of the Fourth Amendment (42 U.S.C. 1983) and state law…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1566
Justia Opinion Summary: The Bald Knob Cross is a well-known Illinois tourist attraction, claiming to be the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere. It had fallen into disrepair. The non-profit group Friends of the Cross was formed to solicit…
Date: June 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2102
Justia Opinion Summary: Nation left his position as CEO of Spring Air in 2007 with a severance package of $1.2 million to be paid over 15 months provided he did not work for competitors through 2008. Spring Air paid Nation more than $836,000,…
Date: June 1, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3161
Justia Opinion Summary: Sheneman and his son purchased distressed properties, then flipped the properties by operating an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme that convinced unwitting buyers to purchase properties they could neither afford nor rent…
Date: May 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1313
Justia Opinion Summary: Six defendants moved to reduce their sentences for cocaine violations (21 U.S.C. 846; 18 U.S.C. 2) under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2), based on the retroactive crack cocaine amendments to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. At the…
Date: May 30, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1059
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1986 two victims were found murdered in their home. They had been stabbed numerous times and their home had been set afire. Whitlock and Steidl were convicted in 1987. They spent the next 21 and 17 years in prison,…
Date: May 30, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2523
Justia Opinion Summary: Gay is a deeply disturbed Illinois inmate with a history of self-mutilation, scheduled for parole in 2095. Between 1996 and 2011, he filed more than 30 federal civil cases. Gay lost two at trial, settled two, and lost or…
Date: May 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1541
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-Appellee Chaunte Ott was wrongly convicted and incarcerated for the 1995 murder of Jessica Payne. He brought a civil rights action against the City of Milwaukee and several police officers. This appeal was…
Date: May 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3115
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-Appellee Ingrel Estiel Ortega-Galvan appealed his 41-month sentence for entering the United States without authorization after having been removed. The issue before the Seventh Circuit concerned whether and…
Date: May 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3623
Justia Opinion Summary: While on probation for a state drug conviction, Defendant-Appellant Mashica Spann met Carlos Hoffman in court mandated group therapy and joined his heroin-distribution ring. She was indicted in federal court for her role…
Date: May 25, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1576
Justia Opinion Summary: Officers, responding to an assault in progress, saw defendant, who voluntarily submitted to a pat down. A pistol was found in his coat pocket. Charged possession of a firearm by a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), defendant…
Date: May 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2204
Justia Opinion Summary: During his intake interview, King informed the jail’s nurse that he had asthma, diabetes, a heart problem, high blood pressure, seizures, and mental health problems. The jail contracted medical services from a private…
Date: May 25, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2652
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant robbed a bank and pleaded guilty to bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113(a) and 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A). He received consecutive sentences of 36 months and 84 months. The…
Date: May 24, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2879
Justia Opinion Summary: Between 2004 and 2008, Brown ran an elaborate scheme that tricked lenders into issuing fraudulent mortgage loans in Chicago and Las Vegas. Brown recruited or directed dozens of individuals: lawyers, accountants, loan…
Date: May 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1935
Justia Opinion Summary: Smith claimed (42 U.S.C. 1981) that he endured serious racist harassment from his immediate supervisor at former defendant Equistar and was fired for complaining about it. Equistar was an affiliate of another former…
Date: May 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2066
Justia Opinion Summary: The Chicago Tribune published articles revealing that the University of Illinois had a special process for reviewing applications from students with well-placed supporters. The President of the University system, the…
Date: May 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2690
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested while officers executed a warrant at his apartment, and, based on items found and statements to officers, was charged with possession of cocaine base with intent to distribute, possession of…
Date: May 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3233
Justia Opinion Summary: Siblings of decedent, a 22-year-old inmate who committed suicide while incarcerated, sued under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging that staff members acted with deliberate indifference to his serious medical condition involving a…
Date: May 23, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1434
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1984 petitioner was convicted of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, and attempted robbery. During six jury selection striking sessions, both sides used all 20 of their peremptory challenges; the state…
Date: May 22, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3300
Justia Opinion Summary: KSM failed to reinstate strikers after the union made an unconditional offer to return to work in 1997. In 2001, the NLRB ruled that KSM violated the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(3), and ordered backpay. The parties entered…
Date: May 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1929
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, hired as a police officer in 1992 and promoted to sergeant and shift supervisor in 1996, publicly criticized several departmental officials at two police officers’ union meetings. Roughly during that same time…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2577
Justia Opinion Summary: Aegis sold sham “trusts,” promising asset protection and reduced tax liability. Clients paid initially paid $20,000 to $40,000 and an annual fee of $3,000 to $7,000. Defendants continued the scheme, despite a 2000 search…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3785
Justia Opinion Summary: Medicare pays teaching hospitals for work by residents when a teaching physician supervises. During the 1990s, HHS concluded that many hospitals were billing for unsupervised services and began to audit invoices. There…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1471
Justia Opinion Summary: Zimmer manufactures orthopaedic reconstructive devices. One product, a replacement hip socket, was subject to a report of high failure rates. Zimmer announced preliminary findings in 2008, attributed the failures to…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1631
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997 Javier unlawfully entered the U.S.; he married in 2001. In 2007 the bank hired wife. Husband, attempting to start a business, could not open a bank account without a social security number. He obtained an…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2225
Justia Opinion Summary: Two officers stopped plaintiff’s adult son for a traffic violation and found crack cocaine in the car. Daniel attempted to flee, resulting in a physical altercation. Plaintiff, who lived close, was told by a neighbor,…
Date: May 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2841
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners, citizens of the Philippines, entered the U.S. under nonimmigrant visas in 2003 and 2004. Wife’s employer petitioned on her behalf for alien-worker status, and she applied for adjustment of status She is a…
Date: May 17, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3426
Justia Opinion Summary: The suit, against law enforcement officers and the county, claimed denial of equal protection in failure to respond to complaints about gang harassment. The district court, interpreting the pro se complaint as…
Date: May 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2105
Justia Opinion Summary: The taxpayer, a C-corporation with about 40 employees, claimed that its revenues ($5 million to $7 million a year) were offset by deductions for business expenses, primarily compensation paid to owner-employees, three of…
Date: May 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3111
Justia Opinion Summary: The State of Illinois, facing a significant and unprecedented fiscal deficit, brokered a series of compensation agreements with the exclusive bargaining representative for 40,000 state employees. The parties trimmed…
Date: May 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2355
Justia Opinion Summary: After observing defendant and another selling crack cocaine, officers recruited a customer as a confidential informant and executed three controlled buys with audio and video surveillance. At trial defendant challenged…
Date: May 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2962
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an inmate waiting to be keyed into his cell, was wounded by a pellet fired in an attempt to break up a fight. He showed his wound to an officer, who refused a medical technician's request to move plaintiff to…
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1345
Justia Opinion Summary: BMD was a subcontractor for Industrial, a subcontractor for Walbridge, the general contractor for construction of a factory near Indianapolis. Fidelity was surety for Industrial’s obligations to BMD. The project…
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2334
Justia Opinion Summary: Capital One retained a collection agency, which sent plaintiff, its debtor, a dunning letter with notice of her debt validation rights. Plaintiff claims that the content as a whole over-shadowed the debt validation…
Date: May 11, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3819
Justia Opinion Summary: The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227, curtails use of automated dialers and prerecorded messages to cell phones, whose subscribers often are billed for the call. AT&T hired a bill collector to call cell…
Date: May 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3509
Justia Opinion Summary: Trostel was founded in 1858. By 2007 the founder's relations still owned about 11 percent of its stock. Smith, which owned the rest, decided to acquire remaining shares by freezeout merger. Trostel became Smith's…
Date: May 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2103
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a self-described tax consultant, worked for the county board of review (property tax assessments) for 10 years, until 2002. In his suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and RICO, 18 U.S.C. 1962c, he alleged that…
Date: May 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3390
Justia Opinion Summary: At age 56, plaintiff left his position as a partner in a law firm and enrolled in school. Employees who depart at age 55 or older may withdraw money from the employer's retirement plan. They must pay income tax, but a…
Date: May 8, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1821
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, hourly steel workers, argued that the employer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 201 by failing to compensate for time spent putting on and removing work clothes in a locker room and walking to…
Date: May 8, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3855
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs in consolidated cases claim that, during their tenures as pharmaceutical sales representatives employed by Lilly and Abbott, they were misclassified as exempt employees and denied overtime pay in violation of…
Date: May 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1286
Justia Opinion Summary: An Illinois statute makes it a felony to audio record any part of any conversation unless all parties consent and applies regardless of whether the conversation was intended to be private. The offense is elevated to a…
Date: May 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3074
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant owned tobacco stores. Currency sales accounted for roughly half of the revenue. He directed employees to separate currency from credit-card and check receipts. He used currency to pay employees and suppliers…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: 08-1879
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants operated auto dealerships, and from 1995 to 2005, more than half their sales were to drug traffickers, who preferred to deal with defendants because they were willing to accept large cash payments in small…
Date: May 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2319
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was arrested after a traffic stop and vehicle search. Charges were dropped when lab results revealed that plant material found in the vehicle was not marijuana. Petitioner filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983,…
Date: May 4, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2509
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff had worked for defendant for 19 years when she had a heart attack requiring bypass surgery and went on medical leave. While on leave, she also received treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome. After six months of…
Date: May 4, 2012
Docket Number: 12-1692
Justia Opinion Summary: The International Child Abduction Remedies Act, 42 U.S.C. 11601, entitles a person whose child has been removed from his custody to the U.S. to petition for return of the child. Father and mother lived with their…
Date: May 3, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2412
Justia Opinion Summary: After two days of trial, defendant, charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); 50 grams or more of cocaine base, 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A); and one…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1762
Justia Opinion Summary: The owner and a prospective tenant signed a residential lease at a home for which the owner had not yet obtained a certificate of occupancy. As the tenant began moving his belongings into the house, a building inspector…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2331
Justia Opinion Summary: Dr. Jajeh, a Syrian-born Muslim, became an attending physician at the county hospital in 1991. Starting in about 2002 he had conflicts with another doctor and regularly complained about that doctor. In 2006 he complained…
Date: May 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3083
Justia Opinion Summary: A corporation that wants its shares to be traded on an exchange or through broker-dealers that make national markets must register the securities under the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. 77j. Section 13(a) of the 1934…
Date: May 1, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1265
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants, charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by conspiring to conduct an enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, 18 U.S.C. 1962(d), appealed…
Date: May 1, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2407
Justia Opinion Summary: The Thorogood lawsuit against Sears, characterized as "near frivolous," concerned marketing of a clothes dryer. It was certified and later decertified as a class action on the ground that no issues could be resolved in a…
Date: May 1, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1702
Justia Opinion Summary: The SEC filed a complaint. The court appointed a receiver to handle defendants' assets for distribution among victims of the $31 million fraud. Assets included oil and gas leases. SonCo filed a claim. The parties came…
Date: April 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1654
Justia Opinion Summary: Police, believing the car to be stolen and the driver intoxicated, stopped plaintiff's car and implemented high-risk procedures. Officers, equipped with body shields, identified themselves and loudly commanded the driver…
Date: April 26, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1487
Justia Opinion Summary: Eilman, a college student, was arrested outside an airport after behaving so badly that agents had called police. Eilman had developed bipolar disorder following an auto accident the previous year. She had not taken…
Date: April 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2969
Justia Opinion Summary: Campus police officers observed defendant using public computer terminals to download sexually explicit photos of young girls. He pleaded guilty to accessing an Internet website for the purpose of viewing child…
Date: April 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1348
Justia Opinion Summary: Following criminal convictions involving controlled substances and a firearm, defendant, an illegal immigrant, was deported to Mexico in 2004. He unlawfully returned to the U.S. in 2008. Less than one year later, he was…
Date: April 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2603
Justia Opinion Summary: The attorney, purporting to represent the guardian of Cristina’s financial interests, filed suit in state court, alleging that Cristina, a minor, had been abused by six defendants. Her general guardian had discharged the…
Date: April 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2012
Justia Opinion Summary: A former part-time police officer for a town of just over 400 people filed a complaint under 28 U.S.C. 1983 and 1988 against defendants who allegedly conspired to prosecute him for sexual offenses involving dancers at a…
Date: April 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1112
Justia Opinion Summary: After discovering that she had lung cancer that had spread to her brain, Killian underwent aggressive treatment on the advice of her doctor. The treatment was unsuccessful and she died months later. Her husband submitted…
Date: April 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1124
Justia Opinion Summary: Hicks worked as a mechanic for the Forest Preserve District for two years and received 28 disciplinary action forms from his supervisor. Hicks, who is black, participated in an investigation of his supervisor for…
Date: April 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1256
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant attempted to murder his ex-wife by beating her with a baseball bat, sealing her in a garbage can filled with snow, and leaving her in an unheated storage facility. He was convicted and sentenced to life in…
Date: April 18, 2012
Docket Number: 11-8031
Justia Opinion Summary: The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681c(g), requires that electronically printed receipts not display more than the last 5 digits of the card number, but does not define "card number." A Shell…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 09-3118
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2000, husband and wife, with an estate valued at $3 to $4 million, revised their estate plan with the assistance of their Illinois lawyer, a Minnesota lawyer, and a law partner of their son-in-law. The plan included a…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1096
Justia Opinion Summary: The village fired its village manager, at the same time restructuring its work force by abolishing three positions and creating one new slot. Plaintiff occupied an abolished position: executive coordinator to the…
Date: April 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1595
Justia Opinion Summary: As part of a retention package, the bank purchased a split dollar life policy for plaintiff's trust with cash value of more than $662,000. The bank paid part of the premiums and had a senior interest in the policy to the…
Date: April 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1404
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, convicted of several serious drug and firearm charges, received a mandatory life sentence. His counsel appealed on evidentiary grounds, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed. Defendant then filed a habeas petition…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3522
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998 Ryerson sold subsidiaries to EMC for $29 million. The following year EMC sought rescission, claiming that Ryerson concealed that a subsidiary’s largest customer had declared that unless it slashed prices, the…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3844
Justia Opinion Summary: Dass, born in India, was first hired as a teacher in 1991. In 2002, Dass was hired at Casals. Donaldson was the principal and rated Dass's overall performance through 2005 as excellent, but never recommended Dass for…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1080
Justia Opinion Summary: MGIC provides private insurance on mortgage loans and incurred large losses in the financial crunch that began with the decline of prices of securities based on packages of mortgage loans. Class-action suits filed under…
Date: April 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2616
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant disappeared while on release awaiting trial on a charge of possession of a gun by a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). He was captured nearly three months later and pleaded guilty two weeks before his trial date. At…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2533
Justia Opinion Summary: Cerna and Alexandru, Romanian nationals, resided in the U.S. illegally while participating in a scheme to defraud online auction bidders. Individuals posed as sellers on auction sites. A co-schemer would bid and "win."…
Date: April 10, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2718
Justia Opinion Summary: The prisoner's "skeletal" complaint alleged that, while escorting him down a hallway to segregation, guards instructed him to move against the wall. When he did not comply, a guard, “slammed” him against the wall,…
Date: April 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1999
Justia Opinion Summary: The bar, popular with the college crowd, lost its liquor license after several altercations between employees and customers required police intervention. Wis. Stat. 125.12(2)(ag)(2), provides that a liquor license can…
Date: April 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1955
Justia Opinion Summary: Penske provided transportation services for a newspaper, its only customer, 1999 to 2009, but lost the bid for the contract and informed the union that it would cease operations. The collective bargaining agreement…
Date: April 5, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1773
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to traveling in interstate commerce to engage in sexual conduct with a minor, 18 U.S.C. 2423, and was first sentenced to 240 months' imprisonment with 10 years of supervised release, despite a…
Date: April 3, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3770
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2002 Bell established mutual funds and raised about $2.5 billion for investment. Most of the firms to which the funds routed money were controlled by Petters. He was running a Ponzi scheme. There was no inventory. New…
Date: April 2, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2340
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011 the court vacated a rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration about the use of electronic monitoring devices in commercial trucks. Petitioners, commercial truck drivers, sought attorneys’…
Date: April 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1484
Justia Opinion Summary: For more than 30 years, Blue was an administrative assistant at IBEW and had an excellent record. In 2006 Phillips filed a complaint against IBEW, alleging that his information was removed from the referral book and his…
Date: April 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1863
Justia Opinion Summary: A friend of defendant told Sergeant Wilson that he had seen sexual images of young girls on defendant's cell phone, and that defendant, 21 years old, had bragged about having sex with them. The friend later texted Wilson…
Date: April 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2424
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, then 45 years old and having previously worked in a factory and as a health aid, applied for disability benefits in 2004, claiming an onset date in 2004. Her conditions include peripheral vascular disease,…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1354
Justia Opinion Summary: FS and AOS discussed working together to develop a pump motor to prevent entrapment of swimmers by suction created by pool drains. FS sent a letter discussing specific features. After months of correspondence, FS sent…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2423
Justia Opinion Summary: The Atomic Energy Act, 42 U.S.C. 2011, requires that nuclear generators implement access authorization programs. Many employees at privately-owned nuclear power plants must receive a security clearance with "unescorted…
Date: March 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3457
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010 the Seventh Circuit held that California law applied to plaintiff’s securities fraud claims and remanded because California, unlike federal securities law, permits a person who did not purchase or sell stock in…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2184
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996 defendant and his cousin formed companies that bought, stored, and sold grain, and provided farming services. In 1999, the cousins obtained bank loan by falsely representing that valuable contracts existed for…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1448
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff received 24 parking tickets over a 14-month period. All arrived by mail, typically in batches. All were written by Chicago Police Department Unit 253. Some were inconsistent, implying that the Toyota was in two…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2018
Justia Opinion Summary: The company, formed in 2003 to franchise stores, was forced into reorganization bankruptcy under Chapter 11. The bankruptcy judge granted a motion to convert to Chapter 7 liquidation, over objection by a five percent…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2082
Justia Opinion Summary: A new customer of the bank (Ott) obtained a loan to finance the purchase of a motor home from the dealership that Ott himself owned. Ott presented the certificate of origin and pledged the motor home as collateral. When…
Date: March 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2170
Justia Opinion Summary: While on patrol, Officer Turner spoke to a man who reported that someone had just broken into his home and fondled his two daughters, who had been sleeping. A short time later, Turner interviewed the girls, who…
Date: March 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1479
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant discarded a loaded handgun during a foot chase with police and was arrested for unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon. He signed a Miranda waiver and began giving a statement, but soon invoked his right…
Date: March 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1168
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were involved in a physical altercation with employees of a nightclub. Plaintiffs sustained visible injuries. Club employees took them outside, handcuffed them and called the police. The officers were…
Date: March 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1273
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued Allstate on behalf of a putative class, alleging a nationwide pattern or practice of sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e, and the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C.…
Date: March 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1347
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, defendant was in the U.S. illegally and, at the direction of another, purchased a house for the purpose of obtaining multiple home equity lines of credit. He submitted loan applications that contained false…
Date: March 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2811
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff is serving time in a state prison, but was transferred to county jail to attend court proceedings. During two stays, the jail applied a policy of making “nutriloaf” the exclusive diet of prisoners who had been…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2648
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1989, petitioner illegal entered the U.S. from Mexico. He married another illegal alien in 1992 and they have three children, 5-18 years old, who are U.S. citizens. In 2000 INS commenced removal. Petitioner sought…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2890
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff suffered an on-the-job injury. The following day, managers decided to terminate her position as part of a national reduction in force. Informed of this decision upon her return from medical leave, plaintiff…
Date: March 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3232
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff first sought treatment in 1988, at age 27, experiencing double vision, eye strain, and facial numbness, and was diagnosed with abducens nerve palsy of the left eye. He continued to work as a welder until 2004,…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1203
Justia Opinion Summary: Three individuals (once known as the "Bad Boys' of Chicago Arbitrage") established "Loop" as a closely-held corporation for their real estate holdings in 1997. A family trust for Loop's corporate secretary (50% owner)…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3630
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and attempt to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) & 846. Baker was also convicted of use of a telephone in…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3698
Justia Opinion Summary: Romasanta worked in Chicago as an expediter, helping developers obtain construction permits. In testifying against Curescu, a developer, she admitted bribing 25 to 30 city employees between 2004 and 2007. She paid an…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1211
Justia Opinion Summary: The village, on the Mississippi River, experienced a 500-year rain in 2007. Debris carried by the water clogged the trestle beneath the railroad bridge, causing runoff to back up and inundate the village. Residents sued…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1342
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, hired by IDOT in 1989, was suspended in 2003, pursuant to a "last chance" agreement, for fighting in the workplace. There had been prior disciplinary measures. In 2005, plaintiff was involved in a worksite…
Date: March 21, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2664
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a part-time mail handler for the USPS since 1987, injured his back on the job in 1998. He returned to "light-duty" work until 2003, when he reinjured himself at work. Except for one week, he did not return to…
Date: March 20, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2804
Justia Opinion Summary: Rice, charged with attempted bank robbery, was known to have schizophrenia, and shortly before his death, was found incompetent to stand trial. Although seen by mental health professionals while detained, Rice often…
Date: March 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1380
Justia Opinion Summary: Sanchez rose through the ranks of Chicago politics and became Commissioner of Streets and Sanitation. He was a leader of the Hispanic Democratic Organization, and, acting as a city official and a political operative,…
Date: March 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2958
Justia Opinion Summary: Employers must maintain a log of work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses, 29 C.F.R. 1904.4(a); an incident is "work-related" if "the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition." …
Date: March 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1754
Justia Opinion Summary: Hanners, then a Master Sergeant with the Illinois State Police, used his work computer to send an email to 16 fellow employees, including pictures and descriptions of "fictitious Barbie Dolls," depicting stereotypical…
Date: March 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1883
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a vote by employees of the truck transportation company, the NLRB certified a local union as representative for the employees. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, upholding the Board's decision that a ballot with…
Date: March 19, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2125
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), was sentenced to 113 months. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, upholding the court's refusal to exclude evidence regarding gang affiliation. The…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2775
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1989 Dominguez was arrested and in 1990 he was convicted of home invasion and sexual assault. In 2002 he was exonerated by DNA; in 2005 he received a pardon. Under Illinois law, his claim for malicious prosecution…
Date: March 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3100
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, fire severely damaged the insureds' home. They submitted a claim to under their homeowners’ policy the next day. The insurer began requesting documents, authorizations, and interviews and learned that the…
Date: March 15, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2529
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, plaintiff, then in ninth grade, was reported as having a knife. The school board held a hearing and entered an expulsion order. Plaintiff was conditionally reinstated for the next school year. In 2007 an…
Date: March 15, 2012
Docket Number: 12-8003
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, serving a 60-year sentence for attempted murder, burglary-battery, and bail jumping, received full collateral review by federal courts, and his first application under 28 U.S.C. 2244(b) for permission for a…
Date: March 14, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2001
Justia Opinion Summary: While the FBI executed a search warrant at his father’s business, officers looked for defendant at his father’s house. They climbed to the deck and, through a window, saw defendant asleep, with a pill bottle nearby. …
Date: March 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2444
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Mexican citizen who has lived in the U.S. for many years and is a lawful permanent resident, was ordered removed because of two Illinois convictions for possessing and trafficking in cocaine. He sought…
Date: March 14, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2815
Justia Opinion Summary: The LLC was organized in 1999 to own and operate 100 fast-food restaurants. Khan owned 40% of the common units. Remaining common units, and all preferred units, were owned by Sentinel. Plaintiffs, restaurant managers,…
Date: March 13, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3556
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was hired as a teller in 1980 and promoted to branch manager in 1995. She received an overall rating of "improvement needed" on 2004 and 2005 performance evaluations, based on complaints from customers and…
Date: March 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2138
Justia Opinion Summary: A fight broke out during a New Year's party at a pub. Several patrons were wounded and a security guard was killed. Plaintiff, an off-duty police officer whose wife was a manager at the pub, was present and was later…
Date: March 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3617
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff worked as a manager for defendant, a food broker, from 2001 until she quit in 2007. She sued under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. 206(d), claiming that the company…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 09-3516
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and fellow gang members were tried for racketeering conspiracy. The others were convicted, but the court declared a mistrial as to defendant. When his retrial case was given to the jury, the government…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1038
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, acting on a tip, police obtained a warrant and raided a house where defendant and others were staying. After apprehending defendant on his way out, police searched and found a pistol and a crack cocaine close…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1373
Justia Opinion Summary: For about seven years, defendant aided undocumented immigrants in filing claims for Illinois unemployment benefits, charging a fee of $80 plus one benefit check, and using social security numbers of unsuspecting,…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2385
Justia Opinion Summary: Insurers sought a declaration that they had no duty to defend or indemnify in tort suits brought against the insured village, concerning discovery of "perc," a carcinogenic common dry cleaning solvent, in one of its…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2679
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was terminated from her position as a lead technologist in a medical radiology department. She admits that there were issues with her job performance, but claimed discrimination on account of her race (white)…
Date: March 12, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3001
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted as felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), a user in possession of a firearm, 922(g)(3), and possession of marijuana and cocaine base, 21 U.S.C. 844(a). The Seventh Circuited…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1647
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants plotted with others to rob a cocaine stash house at gunpoint, but the stash house did not actually exist, and their partners were an undercover agent and a paid informant. The informant, Ringswald, generated…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3921
Justia Opinion Summary: The company operates stores. The union was concerned about use of nonunion contractors who did not pay prevailing wages for construction and remodeling of stores. Unsatisfied with the company's response, the union urged…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1532
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, serving a life sentence in Illinois, suffers a chronic medical condition and other ailments that require him to take several prescription drugs daily. After he became ill because someone accidentally gave him…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1927
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and 846, was sentenced to 85 months in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting a challenge to the conspiracy conviction.…
Date: March 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2215
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm despite his status as a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), and was sentenced, as a "career offender," to 100 months' imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed use of his Indiana…
Date: March 8, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3213
Justia Opinion Summary: The employer operates a municipal landfill and had five permanent employees, including Jarvis, the "Landfill Supervisor." Jarvis and others discussed unionizing, but the company asserted that Jarvis was ineligible for…
Date: March 8, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3338
Justia Opinion Summary: Officers obtained a warrant to search defendant's home, executed it five days later, arrested and charged defendant with possessing 100 or more marijuana plants with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a…
Date: March 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1095
Justia Opinion Summary: The brokerage entered into agreements with customers that set a fee for handling, postage, and insurance for mailing confirmation slips after each securities trade. Plaintiff filed claims of breach of contract and unjust…
Date: March 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2502
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant employed plaintiff as a security supervisor. After she complained that her supervisor, Spann, made sexually offensive remarks and favored males, Spann gave her negative evaluations and accused her of…
Date: March 7, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1322
Justia Opinion Summary: Environmental groups obtained an injunction against timber harvest projects planned for the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. The district court lifted the injunction after finding that the defendants took appropriate…
Date: March 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1423
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, lender issued plaintiff a four-month trial loan modification, under which it agreed to permanently modify the loan if she qualified under Home Affordable Mortgage Program guidelines, implemented by the…
Date: March 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1774
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, the airline established guidelines that address accommodating employees who, because of disability, can no longer do essential functions of their current jobs, even with reasonable accommodation. The guidelines…
Date: March 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1941
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to knowingly possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of controlled substances, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) and was sentenced to 46 months' imprisonment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, upholding…
Date: March 6, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3792
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of a drug offense and is in prison in Texas. The district court sentenced him to 262 months in prison as a career offender under USSG 4B1.1, assuming that a prior walkaway escape from a halfway…
Date: March 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1816
Justia Opinion Summary: The Illinois company sells title insurance through its attorney title agent program, in which it pays the consumer's real estate attorney to conduct title examination and determine whether title is insurable. Plaintiffs…
Date: March 6, 2012
Docket Number: 12-8002
Justia Opinion Summary: Redbox rents DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and video games from automated retail kiosks and was sued under the Video Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. 2710. The district court held that Act provisions requiring destruction of…
Date: March 2, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3816
Justia Opinion Summary: An off-duty police officer, Glover, shot and killed Prado during a late-night road incident. Glover claimed that Prado had tried to run him over and had a gun, which was not found. He claimed he was complying with a…
Date: March 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2889
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs brought a putative class action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. 1001, to recover benefits under long-term disability benefit plans maintained by their former employers. The plans…
Date: March 1, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3750
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff began work as a police officer in 1976. In 1992 he was charged with misconduct related to an improper arrest and, following a hearing, was fired. The state trial and appellate courts affirmed the Police …
Date: March 1, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2072
Justia Opinion Summary: County sheriff deputies responded to a call indicating that Marc had left the home he shared with his parents and was possibly a danger to himself and others. Officers located Marc and determined that he should be…
Date: February 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3286
Justia Opinion Summary: The employer sought an early withdrawal from its obligation to make pension contributions to a multiemployer pension fund; it entered into a new collective bargaining agreement, six weeks before expiration of the…
Date: February 29, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3803
Justia Opinion Summary: Law enforcement authorities believed that defendant was a supplier of illegal drugs to another dealer, Cabrera, who was selling to a paid police informant. The informant, after ordering a pound of methamphetamine from…
Date: February 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1339
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to producing and possessing child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a), 2252(a)(4)(B). After calculating an imprisonment range of life, the district court sentenced him to a total of 384 months. The…
Date: February 29, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1512
Justia Opinion Summary: While playing World of Warcraft online, defendant requested sexual pictures of CG, a minor. CG blocked him, but reinstated him in exchange for online “currency.” Defendant again sent sexual messages; CG again blocked…
Date: February 28, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2035
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, wrongly convicted of two murders in 1986, obtained a certificate of innocence in 2009 and sought damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983 from Illinois Assistant States Attorneys, Wharrie and Kelley, alleging that they…
Date: February 27, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2905
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009 the fire protection district adopted an ordinance requiring commercial buildings and multi-family residences to have fire alarms equipped with wireless radio technology to send alarm signals directly to the…
Date: February 24, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3639
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a class action suit, charging racial discrimination in employment in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. 1981 and sought class certification (FRCP 23(b)(2) and 23(c)(4)) for…
Date: February 23, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2459
Justia Opinion Summary: Following published stories about an investigation of their business practices, principals of a waste-management company improved their chances of winning a bid for a contract to refurbish garbage carts for the City of…
Date: February 23, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2772
Justia Opinion Summary: Lawyers, who represented the plaintiff in an employment discrimination case, were sanctioned for improperly joining a defendant that had never employed the plaintiff and were ordered to pay attorneys' fees of $1,475. The…
Date: February 22, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2443
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant performed occasional maintenance and repairs for a fleet of plaintiff's delivery trucks. Defendant usually provided service onsite at plaintiff's plant, but sometimes would take trucks to its shop. In 2007,…
Date: February 22, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1511
Justia Opinion Summary: While working as office manager and executive assistant for three successive businesses, defendant embezzled more than $240,000 by making personal purchases on company credit cards, falsifying expense reimbursement…
Date: February 17, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2293
Justia Opinion Summary: A 12-year-old girl called police and reported that she had ridden her bike to a hotel to play video games with a teen-ager she met online. Her online friend was a 29-year-old man who gave her marijuana and alcohol and…
Date: February 16, 2012
Docket Number: 09-3832
Justia Opinion Summary: After Calabrese, a "made" man in the "Chicago Outfit" began cooperating with federal authorities, it became apparent that information about his cooperation was leaking to the mob. Defendant, a Deputy U.S. Marshal, was…
Date: February 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1268
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, BP began converting company-operated gas and convenience stores into franchisee-operated stores. From 2006 to 2008, plaintiffs purchased gas station sites and entered into long-term contracts with BP for fuel…
Date: February 16, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2827
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff contracted for satellite TV service. Equipment costs are amortized in monthly payments; a customer who discontinues service owes a fee to cover the unpaid portion of equipment cost. Plaintiff authorized a…
Date: February 14, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2337
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, convicted of two counts of receiving child pornography (18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(2)(A); (b)(1)) and one count of possessing child pornography (18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(5)(B); (b)(2)), was sentenced to a prison term…
Date: February 13, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1566
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant's stepmother was killed while he and others robbed his father's house to steal guns. A state court sentenced him to 71 years' imprisonment for murder and armed robbery. His conviction was affirmed. State…
Date: February 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1934
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a class-action in state court seeking overtime wages under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/4a, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1). After the state court denied class…
Date: February 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2307
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff insured defendants. Defendant Schilli is a freight broker that arranges freight and provides risk management services for claims against other defendants, trucking companies, but does not own tractor-trailers…
Date: February 13, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3134
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled guilty to possession of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(B), contingent upon his right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress the images underlying the charges. The Seventh…
Date: February 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3559
Justia Opinion Summary: As Graham entered a public library, her purse, containing $5,000 in cash, was grabbed. She struggled with the snatcher. The robber shot Graham in the head and her mother in the chest, before fleeing. Graham described the…
Date: February 10, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3626
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a medical doctor, was convicted of distributing fentanyl, a Schedule II narcotic controlled substance, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and obtaining morphine by misrepresentation, fraud, and deception, 21 U.S.C.…
Date: February 9, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1490
Justia Opinion Summary: Indiana State Prison maintains an inmates' recreation fund, required by Ind. Code 4-24-6-6(a), to accrue money from sources outside the state budget, such as profits from a prison commissary. Prison officials are to use…
Date: February 9, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2566
Justia Opinion Summary: Based on his role in operating an online pharmacy that did not require prescriptions, defendant was convicted of conspiracy to import controlled substances, 21 U.S.C. 963 and 18 U.S.C. 2, conspiracy to possess controlled…
Date: February 9, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3729
Justia Opinion Summary: Hernandez caused a severe auto accident that closed northbound I-57 for several hours. With traffic not moving, four hours later, a truck rear-ended plaintiff's vehicle, more than four miles away, killing one occupant…
Date: February 9, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2690
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested while officers executed a warrant at his apartment, and, based on items found and statements to officers, was charged with possession of cocaine base with intent to distribute, possession of…
Date: February 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2078
Justia Opinion Summary: Taxpayers purchased a three-acre lakefront property in Chenequa, Wisconsin, demolished the house and built another. They donated the house to the local fire department to be burned down in a firefighter training exercise…
Date: February 8, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3126
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine and was sentenced to life in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed in 2000. Defendant's collateral attack under 28 U.S.C. 2255 was unsuccessful. Almost a decade later, he…
Date: February 7, 2012
Docket Number: 09-1174
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants committed a kidnapping for ransom to extract payment of a drug debt, abducting the victim in Indiana, taking her to Illinois, and holding her for two days before federal agents rescued her. They entered pleas…
Date: February 7, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3408
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, plaintiff was a citizen of California and agreed to relocate to Illinois to work for defendant. When he quit about five months after moving, his family was still in California. He filed suit in state court,…
Date: February 7, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3875
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner entered a blind plea of guilty with respect to gang-related murders in 1992 and a state court entered judgment on two counts of intentional murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment, the mandatory…
Date: February 7, 2012
Docket Number: 11-3811
Justia Opinion Summary: The city bought land with the intention of transferring it to an adjoining Catholic high school for an athletic complex. In exchange, the city was to have the right to use the complex at specified times. In response to…
Date: February 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1989
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, using a fake Italian passport, came to the U.S. in 2002, at age 23. Less than a year later, she applied for asylum and withholding of removal, claiming that she feared returning to Albania because, as a…
Date: February 6, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2776
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to 60 months for bankruptcy fraud, 144 months for obstruction of justice, and 120 months for possession of child pornography, all to run concurrently. The Seventh Circuit remanded with directions…
Date: February 3, 2012
Docket Number: 09-2741
Justia Opinion Summary: Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400, states receive federal funding for education of disabled children if local schools provide a "free appropriate public education" to all resident…
Date: February 3, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2272
Justia Opinion Summary: Abbott created Hospira for its Hospital Products Division. Before the spin-off, HPD employees had access to Abbott's pension plan. Hospira did not offer a pension plan. The spin-off included reciprocal two-year no-hire…
Date: February 3, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2465
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a plea of guilty to manufacturing marijuana, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), and possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3). He was convicted of possession of a …
Date: February 3, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2589
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was terminated from his position as Senior Humane Officer for the city after refusing to support defendant's successful mayoral campaign and brought suit, claiming that the position of SHO was not subject to…
Date: February 2, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2356
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, active in Wisconsin’s "open carry" movement, carried a holstered handgun into stores and was arrested for disorderly conduct. His gun was confiscated, but eventually returned. He was not prosecuted. He sued…
Date: February 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1257
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a plead of guilty to selling a firearm to a felon, distributing ecstasy, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The government recommended a 68-month sentence, the bottom…
Date: February 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1850
Justia Opinion Summary: An associate, dismissed from the law firm after five years, sought bonuses and fees with respect to cases on which he worked that settled after his departure. He filed attorney's liens in Illinois state courts. When…
Date: February 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2054
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, defendant was convicted of attempting to coerce or entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, 18 U.S.C. 2422(b), and received a 262-month prison term. The Seventh Circuit vacated the sentence. On remand, the…
Date: February 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2164
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, plaintiff applied for admission to the Indiana Bar. The Board of Law Examiners requested that he attend hearings to investigate his application and be evaluated by mental health professionals and…
Date: February 2, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2381
Justia Opinion Summary: ESBC, billing agent for the Fire Department, determined that each of the individual defendants owned a vehicle involved in a collision to which the Fire Department responded and each had insurance coverage, and billed…
Date: February 2, 2012
Docket Number: 12-0002
Justia Opinion Summary: The court issued an directing the attorney to show cause why she should not be subject to discipline, up to and including disbarment, for abandonment of her client in a criminal case. She ignored two previous orders…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3595
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs challenged the school district practice of giving preference to the boys' Friday and Saturday night basketball games, asserting that non-primetime games result in a loss of audience, conflict with homework,…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3959
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of 14 counts of willfully assisting in preparation of tax returns containing materially false and fraudulent claims, including phony medical and business expenses and charitable donations. The…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1891
Justia Opinion Summary: Convicted of attempted murder, criminal confinement, domestic battery, and invasion of privacy, defendant was sentenced to 51 years in prison. He was unsuccessful at seeking post-conviction relief in Indiana …
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1920
Justia Opinion Summary: Illinois law provides that workers at public works projects must be paid not less than general prevailing rate of hourly wages for work of a similar character on non-federal public works in the locality, 820 ILCS 130/3.…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2322
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a Chinese woman, applied for asylum and for withholding of removal on the ground that because of her opposition to China's "one child"” policy she faces persecution if she is returned to China. She had been…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2340
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant has three prior felony armed robbery convictions, all arising from a crime spree that occurred more than 35 years ago. Since his 1990 release from prison, he has lived a fairly crime-free life. After his…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2422
Justia Opinion Summary: After a 1999 auto accident, plaintiff had severe back pains and was diagnosed with a Chiari malformation, a protrusion of brain tissue into the spinal canal. After three operations on her brain and spine, her vision and…
Date: January 31, 2012
Docket Number: 11-2917
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a U.S. citizen, had a romantic relationship and lived with an illegal alien, who was later arrested on drug charges. After being deported to Mexico, he returned illegally and again lived with defendant. When…
Date: January 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3377
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The district court set a base offense level of 24, U.S.S.G. 2K2.1(a)(2), relying in part on a California first-degree…
Date: January 27, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3848
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a class action, alleging violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 216(b), and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/1, based on denial of overtime pay. For the IMWL claim, the district…
Date: January 26, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3262
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was arrested for drinking on a public way. A search incident to arrest turned up a heroin packet and a baggie of crack cocaine, so drug possession charges were added. He was jailed for 12 days before bonding…
Date: January 26, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1976
Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2010 Ladish agreed to be acquired by Allegheny for $24 cash plus .4556 shares of Allegheny stock per share. At the closing price after the announcement, the package was worth $46.75 per Ladish share, a…
Date: January 24, 2012
Docket Number: 10-3361
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, certified by the city as a minority-owned business eligible for favored treatment, sells a variety of products. The city is virtually its only customer. Early in 2005 the city began to suspect that plaintiff…
Date: January 23, 2012
Docket Number: 10-1113
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff alleged that while he was a pretrial detainee, asleep in his cell, a guard opened the door, allowing another inmate to enter and attack him. He sustained injuries to his head and eyes. He requested medical…
Date: January 20, 2012
Docket Number: 10-2872
Justia Opinion Summary: The Seventh Circuit previously affirmed the convictions of members of a Chicago operation that trafficked heavily in various controlled substances, but ordered a limited remand asking whether the district court wanted to…
Date: January 20, 2012
Docket Number: 11-1657
Justia Opinion Summary: The current beneficiary of several discretionary trusts brought claims of legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty against the trustee and her lawyers. The district court dismissed with prejudice for lack of…
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