7th Circuit Digest

Sentencing Guidelines

In 2010, Wayne Scott was sentenced to 63 months of imprisonment and 36 months of supervised release after entering into a written plea agreement for engaging in two schemes to defraud investors and potential investors.

Immigration – Removal Proceedin

Pedro Rivas-Pena has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States and is a citizen of Mexico.

Immigration – Naturalization Denied

Five years after entering the United States, ostensibly as the unmarried son of a lawful permanent resident, Laith Bijan applied to become a naturalized citizen.

Abuse of Discretion – 6th Amendment Violation

A litigant in a civil case has neither a statutory nor a constitutional right to counsel.

In 2009 Blanchard & Associates, a Chicago law firm, provided legal services to an Indian pharmaceutical company, Lupin Ltd. (“Lupin India”), and its American subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Lupin USA”).

Unemployment Benefits – Collective Bargaining Agreement

For more than half a century, Caterpillar Inc. paid unemployment benefits to laid-off employees at its manufacturing plant in Joliet, Illinois.

ALJ Error – Disability

George Plessinger applied for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act based on his chronic back pain.

4th Amendment Violation – Unlawful Entry

When Officer Del Pearson and other Chicago police officers executed a search warrant for “apartment 1” at a Chicago address, there was a problem with the warrant.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

In 2002 an Illinois jury convicted Volney McGhee of murder and attempted murder after he shot two men outside a Chicago gas station.

Suppression of Evidence – Unreasonable Seizure – Firearm

The police received an anonymous 911 call from a 14‐year‐old who borrowed a stranger’s phone and reported seeing “boys” “playing with guns” by a “gray and greenish Charger” in a nearby parking lot.

Bankruptcy – SSA Payments

Shortly before Peggy Berg filed a petition for bankruptcy, the Social Security Administration (“SSA” or “Agency”) reduced the payment of a back-award that it owed to her by the amount of an earlier overpayment that Berg owed to the Agency.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

In 2002 an Illinois jury convicted Volney McGhee of murder and attempted murder after he shot two men outside a Chicago gas station.