Our panel of leading appellate attorneys reviews the eight Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Friday, January 21. 

Child pornography sits at the crossroads of constitutional and criminal law, writes Christopher Keleher in his January Illinois Bar Journal article, “Defining Lewdness.” Keleher notes that nudity is not the dividing line between free speech and prison, as the U.S. and Illinois Supreme courts hold that nudity—without more—is constitutionally permissible. Instead, there must be sexual conduct involving a minor to be pornographic. But the concept of child pornography is expanding beyond images of sexual conduct to include those that depict children in ways a viewer might perceive as sexual.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on January 21, 2022. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

The U.S. Attorney's Office Central District of Illinois is accepting applications for an Assistant United States Attorney opening in its Criminal Division to be located in Rock Island, IL. 

Applicants must be a United States citizen or national; submit to a background investigation, credit and tax checks, and drug test; be registered for selective service, if applicable; have a J.D. Degree; have at least three years post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience; and be active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction).

The U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Illinois is accepting applications for an Assistant United States Attorney opening in its Criminal Division to be located in Fairview Heights, IL. 

Applicants must be United States citizens; submit to a background investigation, credit and tax checks, and drug test; be registered for selective service, if applicable; have a J.D. Degree; have at least one year post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience; and be active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction).

The U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Illinois is accepting applications for an Assistant United States Attorney opening in its Criminal Division to be located in Fairview Heights, IL. 

Applicants must be United States citizens; submit to a background investigation, credit and tax checks, and drug test; be registered for selective service, if applicable; have a J.D. Degree; have at least one year post-J.D. legal or other relevant experience; and be active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction).

State courts have increasingly become the default system for addressing the needs of those with behavioral health issues. Commonly cited statistics show that 64 percent of people in local jails suffer from mental illness. The rate of serious mental illness is four to six times higher in jail than in the general population, and the rate of substance use disorders is seven times higher among those in jail than in the general population. 

Following up on its recent call to action, the Illinois Supreme Court Mental Health Task Force (Task Force) is hosting a series of judicially led, multidisciplinary Regional Councils and Resource Mapping Workshops that will meet monthly throughout the state from January-June 2022.  

Don’t miss this in-depth look at the mediation techniques that can help you successfully settle an employment law dispute.

While some protective orders have existed statutorily in Illinois for at least a decade and hearing and issuing these types of protective orders has become part of the normal course of business in most courthouses, in 2017, the Illinois legislature passed House Bill 3718, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018, creating a new statutory framework for issuing protective orders in conjunction with criminal charges.