Road trip! The justices of the Illinois Supreme Court are travelling to Urbana for business. In an effort to increase transparency in our court system, the Illinois Supreme Court Justices will do their jobs outside of their typical courtroom setting.
On March 15th, the Illinois Supreme Court will hear oral arguments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The court will hear two cases starting at 10:30 am in the Krannert Center for Performing Arts on the school’s campus.
This isn’t the first time the justices have heard oral arguments outside of Springfield. In 2016, the Court heard cases in Lisle , and in 2014, held oral arguments in Chicago.
Chief Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier is excited to return to his alma mater for the day.
Since I first joined the court over a decade ago, we have made an effort to better inform the public on the work we do by ‘riding circuit,’ that is, by holding oral arguments at various locations throughout the state. When we ride circuit … the local community and the public at large have a much better opportunity to observe, first hand, the work we do and how we do it … Holding court at different locations and inviting area students and residents to attend helps demystify the process. At the same time, it also serves as an important reminder to the members of the court that our rulings are never merely an exercise in legal reasoning, but rather have a direct impact on our fellow citizens in real, significant, and often life-altering ways.
The court will hear oral arguments for two cases on the 15th – People v. John W. Plank and Institute for Justice et al. v. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Legal briefs in both cases and a link to the live stream have been posted to the Court’s website.
All public tickets for the event have been reserved. Those who have reserved tickets are asked to arrive early as doors will open at 9 a.m. and guests must be seated by 9:50 a.m. A question and answer session will follow the oral arguments. Students and teachers from 18 schools have been invited to participate in the program in-person or by watching it on a live stream provided by the University of Illinois College of Law.
For more information about the upcoming event, please contact Communications Director of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chris Bonjean by phone at 312.793.2323 or by email.