Molly's Law Would Significantly Increase Penalties for FOIA Violations
The Illinois General Assembly recently introduced HB 6083 that would amend FOIA to increase the penalties that a court can assess against a public body for a willful and intentional violation of the Act. Currently, FOIA authorizes a court to impose a maximum fine of $5,000 for a willful and intentional violation. This legislation, if passed, would raise the maximum fine to $10,000. It would also allow a court to increase that fine by $1,000 per day if the public body fails to comply with the court's order within 30 days.
The proposed legislation, called Molly's Law, also amends the Wrongful Death Act to increase the time period for bringing a wrongful death lawsuit. The legislation followed a court's dismissal of a civil suit filed by the family of a college student because the case was not brought within the 2 year statute of limitation for wrongful death claims.
Post Authored by Julie Tappendorf
The bill appears to violate the single-subject rule in Art. IV, Sec.8(d). It is difficult to see how FOIA penalties and the wrongful death statute of limitations relate to a single subject.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point!
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