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Citizen Advocacy Center

Time is now to become a candidate for local office

11/24/2014

 
There is still time to become a candidate for local office!

The filing deadline for the April 7, 2015 local elections for city, village, school, park, fire, and library boards is  December 22, 2014. 

To get started download the Candidate's Guide.

Feel free to contact us if you have questions.

CAC Facilitates Freedom of Press in Lawsuit

11/21/2014

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For more information: Maryam Judar, Executive Director, Citizen Advocacy Center (630) 833-4080

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Politician's Suit Against Newspaper Thrown Out;
Ordered to Pay Newspaper's Attorney Fees

In a ruling with important implications for newspapers and the public throughout Illinois, on November 18 DuPage Circuit Court Judge Dorothy French Mallen dismissed a defamation lawsuit [DuPage case number 14 L 413] filed by Winfield Village Trustee Tony Reyes against his community's struggling sole newspaper, The Winfield Express.

The newspaper published an account of a citizen's remarks addressing a public meeting of the Winfield Plan Commission concerning a theoretical future development. The citizen made reference to a controversial action by the local high school board in 2004 to sell some valuable public property to the low bidder at a price almost $6 million less than another bid. The article then described for the reader the history of the transaction, including that the developer soon resold the property for an $8 million profit. The citizen was concerned that one of the persons on the high school board back then, Mr. Reyes, was now on the village board and he feared a repeat.

The article also noted that an outside real estate attorney hired after-the-fact to review the transaction wrote that there “appears to be a violation of the spirit of a statutory requirement that school boards attempt to liquidate their properties at the highest price.” The article concluded with various rhetorical questions residents still ask about the matter, including speculation about bribery, but reminded readers that prosecutors had never investigated the transaction and that everyone involved remains legally innocent of any wrongdoing.

Without first contacting the newspaper to complain, submit a statement, or request a retraction, Mr. Reyes filed his lawsuit shortly after the article was published, claiming that it defamed him and cast him in a false light. Mr. Reyes, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in connection with transaction, has further claimed that the transaction was the best deal offered to the school district at the time.

A tactic often used by developers and others who want to shut down criticism is to file a frivolous suit against a critic or ringleader for a breath-taking amount of money, knowing that other members of the public will be frightened to raise their voices lest they too be sued. Even though innocent, the costs and trouble of dealing with a lawsuit have a chilling effect that scares others into silence. That technique is known as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP).

“Fortunately, in 2007 Illinois passed an anti-SLAPP law, called the Citizen Participation Act (CPA), that allows such suits to be quickly dismissed,” says Maryam [correct] Judar, executive director of the Citizen Advocacy Center that the newspaper turned to for help when the suit was filed. The non-profit Center assists the public in exercising its rights under the Sunshine Laws to hold local governments accountable, and it contacted The Collins Law Firm to represent the newspaper.

The newspaper’s attorney filed a motion for dismissal under the Citizen Participation Act requesting not only that the suit be dismissed, but further requesting that the court order that Mr. Reyes pay the newspaper's legal fees. The motion won.

The judge found that the suit was without merit, filed in retaliation against the paper for a story he did not like, and was intended to chill further criticism. Mr. Reyes has been barred from re-filing his suit, and ordered to pay the newspaper's legal expenses and attorney's fees. “Judge French Mallen is one of the most well-respected judges in DuPage County for her careful reading and consideration of all the motion papers and legal authority,” says Robert Dawidiuk, a partner at The Collins Law Firm who argued the case for the newspaper. “Her decisions are well thought out and reasoned. We were fortunate in this case because the CPA is still somewhat of a developing area of law.”

In her ruling, Judge French Mallen went through the newspaper article point-by-point, dismissive of each complaint on various grounds. She summed up, saying “the lawsuit is meritless because every one of those statements that is complained about either doesn't refer to Mr. Reyes specifically, is true, is innocent construction, or is opinion. None of it rises to the level of defamation. …. So I am finding that this is a meritless lawsuit in that the statements are not defamatory and there is no proof of any actual malice. …. The plaintiff has not provided clear and convincing evidence that the paper and Mr. Greer's motivation was not solely to participate in the constitutionally-protected free speech and government.”

Mr. Reyes was ordered to pay the newspaper's legal costs, a rarity in American courts, but specifically authorized and required by the Citizen Participation Act as a deterrent against filing SLAPP actions to stifle public discussion.

Standing outside the courtroom, Mr. Greer said he was “relieved” because paying any judgment would have closed down the newspaper and jeopardized his house, “which is what that politician has threatened to do to others.”

Mr. Reyes did not attend court, and his attorney, Thomas E. Sullivan, did not volunteer any opinion on whether they would appeal.

Mr. Dawidiuk, the newspaper's attorney, said “I think that the judge got it right and this decision should stand if appealed. It is important to our democratic process that public officials and politicians can be questioned and challenged with tough questions in the public forum – especially newspapers.”
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Update HB 3796 Call your State Senator to protect IL FOIA

11/20/2014

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Yesterday the Illinois House voted to override the Governor's veto on HB 3796.  While we're not sure when the bill will be brought before the Senate for a vote (later this week or the first week of December), we're asking you to CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR TODAY (and forward this information to your networks)!  Tell them you oppose this bill because it severely curbs the ability of the public to monitor government activities. 

Click Here to Find your Senator's contact info

Below are specific points that you can make when you call:      
  • This bill for "voluminous requests" is confusing and creates more problems than solutions.
  • Mechanisms currently exist in the FOIA to protect public bodies from "unduly burdensome" requests and "recurrent requesters."
  • This bill will snare regular FOIA users who ask for routine documents and cause a delay of over a month to receive documents.
  • There are 7000+ public bodies in Illinois, and not nearly enough media outlets to hold them all accountable.  We rely on Illinois residents to monitor local government to keep it in check.
  • This bill creates the "haves" and a "haves-not" in Illinois with respect to the right to public records because of the fees up to $100, which can be incurred for asking for routine electronic documents that can easily be attached to an email to send to the requester.
  • There is no empirical evidence that the public bodies' complaints of "abusive" or "harassing" requesters, and for the anecdotal cases where these requesters exist, the unduly burdensome and recurrent requester provisions in FOIA should suffice and public bodies should avail themselves of those remedies.

Thank you for your civic participation.
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Top 10 Reasons the Illinois General Assembly Should Vote NO on HB 3796 

11/17/2014

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Picture
REASON #10: NO OPPORTUNITY WAS GIVEN FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION OR DEBATE.  HB 3796 was introduced the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend, one week before the end of the session.  While Illinoisans were honoring those who have defended democracy as members of our U.S. military, the General Assembly was limiting the public’s right to participate in the democratic process.  HB 3796 affects individuals who monitor government, ad hoc citizen groups who organize to address issues of public concern, average citizens who want to learn more about government, and lawyers who represent individuals or community groups in addressing issues of public concern.

REASON #9: THE INTERNET ACCESS PROVISION CONTRADICTS THE  FOIA PROVISION THAT ALLOWS REQUESTERS THE RIGHT TO INSPECT THE PHYSICAL COPY OF THE RECORD.*  
HB 3796 bypasses the requester’s right to inspect original records by allowing the public body to respond to FOIA by  notifying “the requester that the public record is available online and direct[ing] the requester to the website where the record can be reasonably accessed.” **

REASON #8: 5 ILCS 140/3 (e)(vi) ALREADY ALLOWS GOVERNMENT ENTITIES MORE TIME TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS.  
Public bodies can invoke an additional 5 days if they need more time to respond so that compliance will not unduly burden or interfere with government operation.

REASON #7: 5 ILCS 140/3(g) ALREADY ALLOWS GOVERNMENT ENTITIES A MECHANISM TO MANAGE LARGE REQUESTS.  
The “unduly burdensome” provision allows public bodies to determine that the burden on the public body to produce requested information outweighs public interest in disclosure.  

REASON #6: NO DOCUMENTATION HAS BEEN RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC TO ILLUSTRATE SYSTEMIC ABUSE.  
Public bodies have not documented the perceived problem  this bill allegedly will solve.  Further, FOIA is an “intent neutral” law; no requester has to tell the public body why a record is sought.

REASON #5: VOLUMINOUS REQUEST DESIGNATIONS WILL RESULT IN LESS MEANINGFUL PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.  
To intelligently address issues of public concern, a routine FOIA request can easily exceed the proposed thresholds.  A routine FOIA to address community development and economic issues would include all  (1) minutes, (2) agendas, (3) all staff communications, (4) applications, (5) financial data, (6)  contracts, (7) consultant reports, (8) comprehensive plan, and (9) attorney billing records for a particular time period.

REASON #4: HB 3796 CREATES THE “HAVES” AND “HAVE NOTS” OF PUBLIC ACCESS.  

The fee scale for electronic data unfairly penalizes Illinoisans with lower incomes and who wish to civically engage, and it will create a class of citizens who have financial means to access them and a class that doesn’t.  


REASON #3: HB 3796 COMPLICATES AND DETERS THE USE OF FOIA BY AVERAGE CITIZENS.  

The provisions for voluminous requests, access to online documents, and electronic data cost provisions have unnecessarily complicated the FOIA so that a lawyer is necessary to untangle the red tape of the procedures for accessing information.  


REASON #2: THE VOLUMINOUS REQUEST PROVISION WORKS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE RECURRENT REQUESTER PROVISION TO SQUEEZE OUT THE PUBLIC.  
The recurrent requester provision limits how many FOIA requests can be made in a certain time frame.  Voluminous request provisions limit how much can be requested at one time.  A requester is potentially forced to choose: be labeled recurrent or voluminous!  Either road, the end point is the same: less access to public records.

AND THE #1 REASON THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY SHOULD VOTE NO ON HB 3796 is:

HB 3796 LIMITS HOW PUBLIC INFORMATION IS DISTRIBUTED WHILE PLACING NO RESPONSIBILITY ON PUBLIC BODIES TO MAKE MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE.
Public bodies claim hardship without bearing any responsibility for making more public records available without requiring requests, which would benefit all parties. 


*   5ILCS 3(a); DesPain v. City of Collinsville, 88N.E.2d 163 (2008).
** H.R. 3796 98th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ill. 2014).
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