Articles Posted in Illinois Legislation

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The City of Chicago began the business of reapportioning its 50 aldermanic wards. To accomplish this goal, the City Council conducted public hearings in 2011 to solicit opinions from citizens regarding the redrawing of ward boundaries.

Under Illinois law, the City Council was required to get the approval of 41 aldermen in order to prevent a referendum on the redistricting plan. In January 2012, the City Council approved the redistricting plan by a vote of 41-8.

The wards created by the redistricting map deviated from an even distribution of population by a maximum of 8.7% per ward.

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Cheneka Ross, 13, was playing tag at a Chicago Park District Park playground while being chased by another child. She ran to the slide to avoid being tagged by one of her playmates. Cheneka climbed up the slide and as she started to slide down, one of her feet became caught on a piece of plastic near the slide’s bottom. She was not able to see the plastic from the top as the slide was curved. The girl fractured her ankle requiring surgery.

Cheneka’s mother, Artenia Bowman, filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Park District asking for her daughter’s medical expenses as well as damages, claiming that the district had acted willfully and wantonly toward the slide’s users. It was also alleged that the park district had received numerous complaints from the community about the slide’s condition and submitted multiple affidavits showed that the park district had received complaints about the slide’s defect since 2010.

The park district’s records system showed that in August 2010 the slide was “boarded up and waiting for repair.” One week prior to the incident with Cheneka, the park district log indicated that the “slide west of park [was] still broken.”

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Julie Abrams was injured at the Oak Lawn-Homewood Middle School on April 19, 2012 during a ceremony inducting her as a member of the National Junior Honor Society. Julie fell at the program because of an allegedly “dark, non-illuminated, elevated, unmarked, uneven surface.” Julie required shoulder surgery as a result and expended $35,800 in medical bills for that injury.

In a lawsuit brought by Julie’s family against Oak Lawn-Homewood Middle School, it was contended that the cafeteria/auditorium — known as the Cafetorium — was “public property intended or permitted to be used for recreational purposes” under Section 3-106 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act. The school asked that the Cook County Circuit Court judge dismiss Julie’s negligence case because of tort immunity. The trial judge denied the school district’s motion, but certified the question for immediate appeal.

This was the question presented to the Illinois Appellate Court for answering: “Where an injury occurs on an area of public property which has both recreational and non-recreational purposes, should Section 3-106 immunity apply when said area is located within a public school where the primary character of the area and overall facility is educational and non-recreational?”

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Ana Reyes was the owner of a motor vehicle and was the sole named insured.  She purchased auto insurance from American Access Casualty Co., and  the policy specifically said there would be no liability coverage for any accident in which she was operating a motor vehicle.

On Oct. 30, 2007, Reyes allegedly drove the Chrysler sedan she owned and hit two pedestrians, killing a 4-year-old boy and injuring his mother.

The Jasso family, who were the injured mother and fatally injured child, had uninsured motorist coverage with State Farm Insurance Co.  The question for the Illinois Supreme Court in this case was the dispute between American Access and State Farm as to whether public policy as established under §7-317(b)(2) of the Illinois Vehicle Code serves to block insurance companies from excluding coverage for a policy’s sole named insured. With Justice Thomas Kilbride dissenting, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded “an automobile liability insurance policy cannot exclude the sole named insured since such an exclusion conflicts with the plain language of Section 7-317(b)(2) and, therefore, violates public policy.”

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Every school day, children are loaded onto school buses around the country.  Most school districts contract with school bus companies and drivers to transport our children to their schools. 

If something goes terribly wrong and a child is injured in a school bus crash, you need someone to advocate and fight for your family’s rights. 

Negligence by a school bus driver or another motorist can cause school bus collisions.  It is known that school bus drivers can be distracted by cell phones and GPS devices, just as other motorists can.

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Illinois law provides for losses suffered when an Illinois insurance company goes bankrupt, is liquidated or cannot meets its obligations.  The Illinois Insurance Guarantee Fund is available to step in when an insurance company fails.

In this case, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision written by the Fifth District Appellate Court in the case of Roy Dean Rogers II. Rogers, age 18, was struck by a car driven by John Winterrowd in 2009.  Roy died as a result of this incident and his injuries.

Winterrowd was intoxicated at the time.  Rogers’s parents received in settlement two insurance payouts.  One was for $26,550 from Winterrowd’s insurance company and another $80,000 was received from the Rogers’s own automobile insurance company.

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The amendment to the Illinois Vehicle Code expands the existing ban on e-mailing while driving.  The new act goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2014. The law prohibits the use of all electronic communication devices while driving with a few narrow exceptions. 

Except for hands-free telephone use, GPS navigation, CB and Ham radios and emergency situations, Illinois drivers will be prohibited from using electronic communication devices.  This would obviously include handheld mobile telephones, texting and e-mailing. 

The new law reads this way:  A person may not operate a motor vehicle on a roadway while using an electronic communication device.  The Public Act 98-0506  originally contained words at the end of the current act that read: “. . . to compose, send or read an electronic message.” The way the law is written now, there should be no confusion.

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A bill signed into law by Illinois Gov. Patrick J. Quinn permits the Illinois Secretary of State to retroactively invalidate a driver’s license if the minor had a citation for which a disposition had not been rendered when the license was issued. In other words, a permit driver, 18 years old or younger, who has a pending traffic ticket, will be unable to obtain an Illinois driver’s license. 

This new law is effective immediately. The House Bill 1009 was sponsored by Rep. John D’Amico and Sen. Martin Sandoval, both Chicago Democrats.

In addition, the new law allows prosecutors to request the court to invalidate a driver’s license if he or she caused death or serious injury while breaking traffic rules.

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