04-3319 Germano v. Winnebago County, Illinois (62515)

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“When applying the facts of this case to the law as set forth in Parratt and its progeny, we find that the random and unauthorized exception applies to the plaintiffs’ case. Illinois law prohibits the actions taken by Winnebago County with regard to the health insurance policies of retired sheriff’s deputies. The county’s decision to act contrary to this state law was not authorized and could not have been predicted or prevented by the state through any sort of predeprivation hearing. The district court correctly found that ‘[n]o process afforded plaintiff would have been sufficient to establish [that the county] could charge [the retired deputies] rates different than those charged non-retired deputies.’

“The retired deputies were denied their rights under the deputy’s continuance privilege. However, ‘[f]ailure to implement state law violates that state law, not the Constitution; the remedy lies in state court.’ Civil Liberties for Urban Believers v. City of Chi., 342 F.3d 752, 767 (7th Cir. 2003) (citation omitted).”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Reinhard, J., Kanne, J.