Authors: James Dunlop, Tara Fumerton
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Latest News
- Some fear Christian nationalism is getting legal legitimacy through the Supreme Court - NPR Illinois
- How Upcoming Biometric Ruling May Affect Ill. Employers - Law360
- Illinois residents open their doors to Wisconsin women seeking abortions across the border - WDJT
- Justices urge lawmakers to allow more public access to rivers - Daily Herald
- Can a Supreme Court Justice Be Impeached? | Chicagoland - Spot On Illinois
- Can a Supreme Court Justice Be Impeached? - NBC Chicago
- Biden warns Democratic governors a GOP Congress would try to ban abortion nationwide - NPR Illinois
- JB Pritzker says GOP opponent Darren Bailey 'too extreme' for Illinois - The State Journal-Register
- 300 March Through Downtown Glenview Protesting Overturning Of Roe Vs. Wade - Journal & Topics Newspapers Online
- As public confidence in the Supreme Court wanes, questions about its legitimacy rise - NPR Illinois
Scholarship & White Papers
Public Opinion Research
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Challenges to Illinois Gun Control Policy: People v. Aguilar – Podcast
Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group Podcast, September 20, 2013
Featuring: Nelson Lund, Dean A. Reuter
Media & Commentary
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A Recent History of Medical Malpractice and Civil Justice Reform in Illinois: The Five Year Wait for the Supreme Court to Decide the Fate of Reform in LEBRON V. GOTTLIEB MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on the validity of the bipartisan Medical Malpractice Reform Act of 2005.1 The last effort to enact civil justice reform occurred in 1995 when a Republican majority controlled the Illinois General Assembly and the Governorship. That General Assembly promulgated several civil reforms and bundled a hard cap on noneconomic damages inside a larger omnibus bill. At the time, the Illinois civil justice reforms were considered the most comprehensive tort reform to be enacted by any state legislature. A Cook County trial judge ruled the legislation unconstitutional almost immediately after its effective date. On appeal from Cook County, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Best v. Taylor Machine Works2 that the caps on noneconomic damages were an infringement of the separation of powers and the bar on “special legislation” and struck the entire tort reform package. In doing so, the supreme court considered a severability clause meant to preserve the other tort reforms in the legislation and determined that the parts that were unconstitutional could not be severed from those remaining.