The Illinois Supreme Court announced Tuesday that Chief Judge Joseph G. McGraw of the 17th Judicial Circuit has been named the new Chairman of the Conference of Chief Judges, effective January 1, 2015.

Judge McGraw will take over leadership from current Conference Chairman Chief Judge Elizabeth Robb of the 11th Judicial Circuit, who is retiring from judicial service on December 31, 2014. Judge McGraw has served as the Conference's vice-chairman since April 2014 and has served as a member of the Conference since January 2012.
The 17th Circuit consists of Boone and Winnebago counties in northern Illinois. A duly elected chief judge from each judicial circuit serves as a member of the Conference of Chief Judges.

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Friday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil cases Hayashi v. Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation and Lake County Grading Co. v. Village of Antioch and the criminal case People v. Patterson.

CIVIL

Hayashi v. Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation

By Alyssa M. Reiter, Williams, Montgomery & John Ltd.

The plaintiffs in this case were physicians whose health care licenses were permanently revoked based upon prior convictions for battery or criminal sexual abuse of their patients.  They argued that section 2105-165 of the Department of Professional Regulation Law, which was the basis for the revocation, did not apply to people whose convictions predated the Act, that the Act was impermissibly retroactive, and that the enforcement violated various state and federal constitutional provisions.

The Supreme Court found “no merit” in any of plaintiff’s claims. The Court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaints for declaratory and injunctive relief.

Section 2105-165 was enacted in 2011. It mandates permanent revocation, without a hearing, of the license of a health care worker who has been convicted of certain types of criminal offenses, such as “Sex Offender” offenses. Each of the plaintiffs had been convicted, before 2011, of the types of offenses included within the Act.

The Court held that the language of the Act, which provides that revocation applies when a health care worker “has been convicted,” indicated that the Act was intended to apply to convictions that predated the Act.

Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Philip G. Montgomery and Joseph R. Voiland as associate judges of the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit.

Mr. Montgomery received his undergraduate degree in 1984 from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, and his Juris Doctor in 1987 from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Montgomery is currently affiliated with the DeKalb County State's Attorney's Office in Sycamore.

Mr. Voiland received his undergraduate degree in 1974 from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington and his Juris Doctor in 1977 from Loyola University in Chicago. Mr. Voiland is currently engaged in solo practice in Yorkville and as a bankruptcy trustee with the U.S. Department of Justice in Chicago.

Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Norma Kauzlarich as an associate judge of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.

Ms. Kauzlarich received her undergraduate degree in 1986 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, and her Juris Doctor in 1994 from the University of Iowa. Ms. Kauzlarich is currently affiliated with the Rock Island County State's Attorney's Office in Rock Island.