A quick trip to the McHenry County Courthouse this afternoon uncovered the initial steps by the McHenry County Sheriff's Department Merit Commission and Sheriff Nygren to appeal their loss in Judge McIntyre's courtroom in the 2008 case of Schlenkert v. Merit Commission, the five individually-named members of the Commission and the sheriff.
Notice has been filed of their intent to appeal the decision to the Illinois Appellate Court, Second Judicial District. March 2, 2009, is the next action date on the case; this is the due date for the record on appeal.
Isn't there any such thing in law enforcement as being a good loser?
Judge McIntyre slammed the Merit Commission and the Sheriff and ruled that the Merit Commission's decision to fire Deputy Schlenkert for cause was "arbitrary and unreasonable." Those are very strong words!
How many taxpayer dollars have been spent so far in a case that the judge called "arbitrary and unreasonable"? How many more taxpayer dollars will be spent?
I wish I had the time to dissect the testimony and the judge's decision. I looked through the two files at the courthouse today. Just skimming them was enough to give me an idea of the baseless claims against Schlenkert.
Perhaps every deputy should go up to the third floor and read through the testimony that contributed to Judge McIntyre's decision. Read who said what and who told whom to do what.
Obviously, each deputy is not going up to the third floor to do that. Maybe I'll buy a copy of the transcript and donate it to the Woodstock library, so that deputies can go and read it without fear of retribution or retaliation. If I do so, I'll ask the library to require ID or a deposit, so that it doesn't "grow legs" and take a hike out the door.
The next question is, how and when did the Merit Commission meet and decide to file an Appeal? Did they hold a secret meeting? Did they hold a public meeting, in compliance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act, and discuss their loss in Judge McIntyre's court? Did they discuss the merits of an appeal and, more importantly, the cost of an appeal and any likelihood of success?
Or, instead, did the public trough just cough up the anticipated expenses of an Appeal and green-light the legal work? When a public body (the McHenry County Sheriff's Department Merit Commission) is involved, how can it approve costly and lengthy legal work without meeting to discuss it and without taking a vote?
Understanding that the five members of the Merit Commission serve at the pleasure of the sheriff, their approval of any request he might make for an appeal would most likely get their rubber stamp. You know the one. The one with the big red "OK" on it. But should they approve this appeal?
Let's hope the Merit Commission doesn't cancel the March 11th meeting. Maybe answers to some of these questions can be learned.
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7 comments:
Algerian immigration detainee wrongful death suit, David Maxsom wrongful death suit, Gauger on death row- wrongful conviction suit, Schlenkert's wrongful termination suit (round two), EEOC investigations, my retaliation lawsuit (for those paying attention it's not a racial profiling lawsuit), my union arbitration proceedings, Illinois Department of Human Rights investigations and then a handful of lawsuits that are on their way. The Sheriff's Department's lawyers are really making a killing off the taxpayers during this time of recession. It must be nice to use other people's money to fund personal vendettas and rectify screw ups.
I wonder what Judge McIntyre thinks about all this. I can't imagine that a McHenry County Judicial Official is pleased when the highest ranking police officer in the county questions/appeals such a decision. If we're lucky people will start questioning the real motives of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department.
A reader emailed me this:
"Filed an appeal without a formal debate or at least a announcement? What is with these people? I want to know what was the basis for the appeal. The judge's ruling was adequate. Was new evidence discovered? Was a new law enacted since the decision? Was the judge deemed unfit recently? WHAT? How many of our tax dollars does Nygren get to spend on cases like this?
Or you could just post the transcripts, say, here?
MEGA DITTOS what Zane and Gus said.
Great idea! The only problems are 1) I'm technologically challenged around how to do that; and 2) it looked like more than 300 pages of transcription.
This appeal is just a stall tactic by the Sheriff. He knows his case is BS and that he's gonna lose.The judge should order that Dep. Schlenkert be paid his salary while the Sheriff stalls and wastes more taxpayer money.
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