Tag Archives: State: Illiniois

Findlaw: They answered God’s call to a life of religious service. Now a group of nuns in suburban Chicago are calling for intervention — divine or otherwise — to stop a strip club from opening next door to their convent.

ChicagoTribune.com: A Rockford abortion clinic that’s been closed since September can reopen under a settlement signed Wednesday.

Religion Clause: In Diocese of Quincy v. The Episcopal Church, (IL Cir. Ct., Dec. 16, 2011), an Illinois trial court refused to grant summary judgment to The Episcopal Church on its counterclaim against the Diocese of Quincy (IL) in a lawsuit originally filed by the break-away diocese to quiet title to its property.

SJ-R.com: More than 3,700 couples have gotten civil union licenses in the six months since Illinois began offering the option

News from The Associated Press: An assistant dean at the University of Illinois College of Law inflated grades and entrance exam scores for several years for incoming students in data that was posted online, according to a report released Monday by the university.

Eugene Volokh at The Volokh Conspiracy: That’s what seems to be the holding of Gilbert v. 7355 South Shore Condominium Ass’n & Shelley Norton (Chi. Com. Hum. Rel’s July 20, 2011), leading to damages of $2100, fines of $1200, and “reasonable attorney fees and associated costs,” which I suspect are likely to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. The statements were said by a condo association manager about a condo owner, but as I’ll note below the logic of this case would likewise apply to tenants speaking about another tenant.

Christian Post: A legal battle is raging on in southern Illinois over a 111-foot cross and whether or not it should be repaired with state tax dollars.

LifeSiteNews.com: Lawyers for Catholic Charities affiliates in three dioceses in Illinois are protesting in court after the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) said it would transfer over 1,000 children from the church-run agencies by only a fraction of the original timeline.

News from Missouri Family Policy Council: The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand an Illinois law requiring the observance of a moment of silence in Illinois public schools.

Houston Chronicle: “We’re getting into a situation where government is telling people of faith, ‘You can’t live out your faith if it happens to disagree with this particular group,’” said Illinois attorney Jason Craddock, a member of the Alliance Defense Fund, a national Christian legal organization that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. [Jason is an allied attorney]

Above the Law: Obviously, law schools misreport information to the ABA so that they can make the same false statements to U.S. News for the benefit of the law school rankings . . . The latest school caught up in a scandal involving false data is the University of Illinois College of Law.

Chicago Sun-Times: State Rep. Deborah Mell (D-Chicago) quietly made Illinois history last week. She got married. To a woman . . .

Religion Clause: Court Says Illinois May Refuse To Renew Adoption and Foster Care Contracts With Catholic Charities: Yesterday, in Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Springfield v. State of Illinois, (IL Cir. Ct., Aug. 18, 2011), an Illinois trial court rejected attempts by Catholic Charities organizations in three cities to prevent the state of Illinois from refusing to renew their contracts to provide foster care and adoption services for the state.

Chicagotribune.com: Amid accusations that Willow Creek Community Church promotes an “anti-gay agenda,” the Rev. Bill Hybels today tried to clear the air by clarifying the church’s views on homosexuality.