Constitution blocks state from landfill

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted March 19, 2019 3:30 PM

During civil enforcement proceedings under Illinois environmental laws involving a 10-acre landfill in Rockford, a Winnebago County judge granted the attorney general’s request for an order commanding Elizabeth Reents — who received a tax deed for the contaminated real estate in 2015 — to permit an inspection of the premises based on a civil discovery rule: Supreme Court Rule 214(a). But Reents objected, arguing the order violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article …

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