Thursday, October 2, 2025
The Illinois Supreme Court has greenlit a commission to develop a program that would allow people who are not lawyers to offer limited legal advice, citing a shortage of lawyers.
Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. and a coalition of legal groups and social service organizations are petitioning Chief Judge Timothy Evans to enter a general order prohibiting warrantless immigration arrests in or around courthouses.
A federal judge has ordered immediate reforms at the Mary Davis Juvenile Detention Home, finding that excessive use of confinement at the Galesburg facility likely has violated the constitutional rights of youth detained there.
Two groups that advocate for forests and wilderness are suing the US Forest service to stop construction of a road in the Shawnee National Forest. The groups - Wilderness Watch and Heartwood filed suit Tuesday in Federal Court in the Southern District of Illinois.
Circuit Judge Brenden A. Maher is selected to serve as the next chief judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit. Judge Maher was unanimously chosen for the position, and he is set to take the role on January 1, 2026.