Peoria, IL has spent more than 100K of taxpayer funds fighting Illinois Stalking Law

Of course the Attorney General of Illinois, the esteemed Lisa Madigan, is spending more than her fair share of taxpayer dollars to fight with Peoria. Result: Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by the taxpayers to fight both sides of a battle brought to you by Peoria police officers Donna Nicholson and Jeff Wilson. Too bad Peoria PD doesn't have the good sense to forbid employees from dipping their pens in the company ink, so to speak since the individual officers don't seem to possess much good sense themselves.

PEORIA —

A stalking case involving two police officers has put taxpayers in an improbable position: paying for a legal challenge that could invalidate the state’s stalking statute.

The case has generated headlines and court filings for years and has recently resurfaced in a Peoria County courtroom with Officer Donna Nicholson seeking an extension of her no stalking order against Officer Jeff Wilson.

She was first granted the order in July 2011 after Wilson was accused of using department-owned equipment to video record and track her movements over a period of years. He was never criminally charged, and he was allowed to keep his job with a special court-ordered provision that he be allowed to possess a firearm while on duty.

The city has financed Wilson’s representation through the “duty to defend” provision of the police union contract, including an appeal in November 2011 to the Third District Appellate Court in Ottawa. The city has been invoiced more than $112,000 for the work, though it also was given a roughly $40,000 discount.

Attorney Lee Smith of the law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson argued in the appeal that the Stalking No Contact Order Act — which applies specifically to instances of stalking between people who have not had a prior domestic relationship — is unconstitutionally vague and should be voided by the court.

“If we were to succeed on that, the Act would be declared unconstitutional, and the orders issued in furtherance of that Act would be vacated,” Smith said Monday. “Our job in representing any client is to represent them to the best of our ability … and we think this is a valid argument.”

Jack Teplitz, the former city attorney who signed on last week as Nicholson’s representation for the stalking order extension, said that outcome would mean the city funded an effort to strip away protections of stalking victims throughout the state.

“Can you imagine the negative impact that would have on hundreds if not thousands of people in the state of Illinois?” Teplitz asked. “How would anybody feel about a relative or friend being stalked by a stranger and not having any protection?”

The position taken by Wilson’s legal team drew the attention of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, which intervened on Nicholson’s behalf in defense of the state law.

The appeal, which also claimed that insufficient evidence was provided during the original no-stalking hearing, still is pending after 18 months, a duration that attorneys from both sides said was unusual.

City Manager Patrick Urich said the content of the appeal was outside the control of the city and that the contract language that led to the scenario would be subject to future review.

“Unfortunately, this is the position we were put in by the language of our contract,” Urich said. “Certainly, we’ll revisit that when we sit at the negotiating table with the union.”

Teplitz, however, questioned whether the city’s interpretation of the contract and related state statutes is valid for the Wilson case. Applicable state law, he said, relates to tort cases where monetary damages are sought and includes exemptions for “willful conduct.”

“I don’t believe that (legal representation) is required by the agreement between the benevolent and the city,” Teplitz said. “Clearly, the court has determined that (Wilson’s) conduct was willful.”

Urich and Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard have said new information came to light by September 2011 that prevented the city from proving the allegations against Wilson and led to him receiving a 20-day suspension instead of being terminated. There was no mention of those new facts in the appeal filed two months later.

The hearings for an extension of the no stalking order have been scheduled for Aug. 5 and Aug. 6 — with the original order temporarily extended until a further ruling can be made.

Matt Buedel can be reached at 686-3154 or mbuedel@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JournoBuedel.

Read more: http://www.pjstar.com/news/x853685398/Officer-challenges-stalking-law#ixzz2YrAT8yMK