2012 Municipal Minute in Review

2012 Municipal Minute in Review

  Friday, December 28, 2012    Julie Tappendorf

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2012 has been a big year for municipal law, and Ancel Glink has been there to keep you updated every step of the way. As the year comes to a close, we summarize the biggest stories of the year, in 140 characters or less:

Automobiles
Court rejects constitutional challenge to red-light cameras. 3/27
Municipal ordinances imposing administrative towing fees authorized by amendments to Illinois Vehicle Code. 1/16

Government Transparency
5^th Circuit upholds Texas Open Meetings Act, ruling that criminal penalties in the Act do not violate the 1^st Amendment. 9/27 

Village board violated Open Meetings Act when discussing budget issues in closed session. 7/19 

New law amends Open Meetings Act to require more specificity for agenda items. 7/20

Text messages between public officials pertaining to public business are subject to release under FOIA, even if sent on private cell phones. 6/25

Public bodies must identify public employees by name, not job title, when posting salary and compensation information. 12/3 

Gun Control

The 7^th Circuit finds Illinois’ concealed carry ban unconstitutional. 12/11 

Court strikes down another part of Chicago's gun ordinance. 6/26

Land Use
The Supreme Court rejects a blanket temporary flooding exception to the Takings Clause, overturning a decision by the Federal Circuit. 12/5 
ADA does not prohibit municipalities from closing medical marijuana dispensaries, according to the 9^th Circuit. 5/23 
Telecommunications Act Amendments limit local government control over cell phone towers. 2/27 

Personnel
City must pay health insurance premiums for catastrophically injured firefighter, but not required to pay for supplemental Medicare coverage. 10/17 
Is an elected official an employee? It depends… 3/5 

City not liable after its alderman punched one of his constituents in the face, knocking him out. 10/30 

Privacy
Enforcement of Illinois eavesdropping law blocked after Supreme Court denial of certiorari leaves injunction barring the law in place.11/26 

Tickets on windshields may violate Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, potentially imposing massive liability on municipalities. 8/17 

Property Maintenance and Inspections
Illinois General Assembly passes bill to help local governments clean up abandoned homes and prevent new foreclosures. 12/12 

Park districts have immunity for snow removal actions, and have no duty to remove natural accumulations of ice and snow. 10/29 

Ordinance requiring inspection and rental occupancy permit prior to occupancy of rental units held unconstitutional. 1/26 

Social Media
District court judge rules that clicking “like” on Facebook is not speech protected by the 1^st Amendment. 9/7 
Lawsuit claims that city’s Facebook page is a public forum, and that city cannot remove comments posted on the page due to their content. 8/23 
New laws prohibit employers from forcing employees and job applicants to disclose their social media passwords. 4/20, 4/13, 3/28
New article provides municipalities with recommendations in their use and control of social media communications. 1/11

Happy New Year!

Authored by Julie Tappendorf and Matt DiCianni, Ancel Glink