Practice News

Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald of the Illinois Supreme Court has released the contents of a letter he wrote to Gov. Pat Quinn urging him to restore severe budget cuts to probation services, saying the current level of state funding is “dangerously inadequate.” The Chief Justice wrote the letter on September 1 to “respectfully request your restoration of funding to a level that allows probation to do its critical work for Illinois’ citizens and communities.” In the budget approved by the Governor, funds appropriated to the Supreme Court for community-based probation programs in 2010 totaled $36,485,500 – a 44 percent reduction from the 2009 allocation. The reduced 2010 allocation follows a 2005 budget cut of 13 percent for probation services, which despite repeated requests by the Supreme Court, has never been restored. “The practical effect of diminishing appropriations is that probation officers must be laid off, criminal offenders sentenced to probation receive inadequate or no supervision, and the public safety is thereby  severely compromised,” the Chief Justice wrote. The Chief Justice said he is aware that the state’s economic difficulties are more serious than any he has known in his 30 years of public service and is sensitive to the heavy burden the Governor bears in distributing limited fiscal resources. “I make this request only after careful deliberation and out of the most grave concerns for the public safety of Illinois’ citizens,” the Chief Justice wrote.

Employers and insurers beware: effective November 21, a new federal statute with the acronym "GINA" forbids discrimination based on genetic information. Read Helen Gunnarsson's LawPulse item from the September IBJ, which describes the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act  and links to EEOC rules interpreting it.

May an Illinois lawyer list his or her "specialties" on LinkedIn without running afoul of Illinois RPC 7.4, which forbids use of the "s" word? The LinkedIn template includes a space for users to fill in their "Specialties," and Illinois lawyers in the LinkedIn network have been wondering. According to Helen Gunnarsson in the September IBJ, ARDC Chief Legal Counsel James Grogan says lawyers can remove the risk of an RPC 7.4 violation by "prefac[ing] their listing of practice areas with a statement drawing language from the rule, along the lines of 'The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law, and I do not hold myself out as a specialist. However, I concentrate my practice in the following areas....'" Read about this and more in Helen's LawPulse item, Social media and legal ethics.

Public Act 96-707 (Haine, D-Alton; Turner, D-Chicago) provides for a hearing to be held when a juvenile with a first-offense misdemeanor turns 18 or upon completion of the sentence, whichever comes later. If local prosecutors do not file objections, expungement will be automatic. The limited objections that may be considered by a judge include the following: (1) if the arrest was for a homicide, an offense involving a deadly weapon, a sex offense, or aggravated domestic battery; (2) if the offense for which the minor was arrested is still under active investigation; or (3) if the minor is a potential witness in an upcoming court proceeding. Public Act 96-707 also prohibits the transfer of confidential juvenile arrest records from the State police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to prevent the unnecessary release of confidential juvenile data. Effective January 1, 2010.