Circuit judge considers deadline for First Amendment claim

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted September 15, 2022 12:53 PM

Indicted by his successor, Brian Towne, former state’s attorney in LaSalle County, filed a First Amendment retaliation claim within two years of when the charges were dismissed. But a federal judge — applying a 2016 opinion from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Towne insists is inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in McDonough v. Smith — tossed the case because the countdown for suing started running from the date of the indictment.Affirming, the 7th Circuit concluded McDonough “has not disturbed …

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