The case involved Al Johnson, Max Johnson, and Sam Levin, who were convicted in Cook County of conspiracy to defraud Illinois of motor fuel taxes under the Motor Fuel Tax Act. The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction, holding that the prosecution was barred. The court found that state officials had entered into a binding agreement with the defendants to strike the original indictment in exchange for payment of over $44,000 in back taxes and interest, which the defendants fully performed; this constituted a final settlement and abandonment of the case. Although a second indictment was later returned after the statute of limitations period had run, the court determined that the prior settlement and the officials' acceptance of performance precluded further prosecution.
The case involved a divorce action filed by Merry Fahrney Berlingieri against her husband Arturo in an Illinois circuit court on grounds of cruelty after incidents in California shortly following their 1937 marriage. The trial court granted the divorce, but the appellate court reversed on residency and evidentiary grounds; the supreme court reversed the appellate decision and affirmed the original decree. The court interpreted the Divorce Act's one-year residency requirement as referring to ordinary residence rather than legal domicile, allowing the lifelong Illinois resident to maintain the suit, and found the testimony of physical abuse by the wife, corroborated by witnesses, sufficient to prove cruelty despite the husband's denials.
This case concerned whether the capital stock of the Rosehill Cemetery Company, a for-profit entity incorporated by special charter in 1859, was subject to taxation under Illinois revenue laws or exempt pursuant to section 5 of the charter, which exempts property actually used for burial purposes or subservient to such uses. The majority of the court held that the capital stock is exempt from taxation. The dissenting opinion reasoned that not all corporate assets, such as accounts receivable and certain mortgage foreclosure holdings, qualify for the exemption, that the corporate franchise itself is not used for burial purposes, and that prior precedent and strict construction rules require taxation of the non-exempt portions.
This case concerned the interpretation of a 1910 deed that conveyed 160 acres in trust for 21 years, then to Jennie Donovan and the heirs born of her body in fee simple; five of her children and she later mortgaged their interests, which were foreclosed upon by a bank receiver who sought partition after the trust ended in 1931. The circuit court granted partition, awarding the receiver an undivided six-thirteenths interest based on the mortgaged shares. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the deed created a fee simple tenancy in common among Jennie Donovan and her twelve then-living children rather than a fee tail estate. The court reasoned that the words "heirs born of her body" functioned as words of purchase identifying the living children as co-owners, not as words of limitation, because the added phrase "in fee simple" negated any intent to create an estate tail and the trust provisions focused on support for the existing family members during the trust term.
The case involved a challenge to a Rockford city ordinance that imposed annual license fees on operators of automatic vending machines selling candy, peanuts, soft drinks, popcorn, and gum, along with requirements for health inspections of the products. Plaintiffs Axel H. Larson and the Northwest Canteen Company sought an injunction, arguing the ordinance violated state and federal constitutional provisions. The circuit court dissolved a temporary injunction and dismissed the complaint, and the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed this decision. The court reasoned that the Cities and Villages Act granted municipalities authority to regulate the sale of such food products and to charge license fees reasonably related to the costs of regulation and inspection, finding the fees and classifications in the ordinance to be valid and non-discriminatory.
The case involved Douglas C. Ridgley, a retired teacher over age seventy with more than twenty-five years of service, who sought a writ of mandamus to compel the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions Teachers’ Pension and Retirement Fund to increase his annual pension from $400 to $600 under the 1937 amendment to section 16 of the governing statute, after tendering the required $200 payment. The circuit court denied the board’s motion to dismiss and issued the writ, leading to this appeal. The Supreme Court affirmed, ruling that the amendment applies to teachers already retired and does not violate the state constitution’s ban on extra compensation for services rendered, because the pension fund operates as a contractual annuity based on optional rather than compulsory contributions, following the precedent in Raines v. Board of Trustees.
