BPI Argues State Supreme Court Case Involving Alleged Government Corruption

BPI attorney Alex Polikoff delivered an oral argument to the Illinois Supreme Court on September 21, representing Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard, who is seeking to investigate the Cook County Assessor’s office for possible corruption.

Blanchard v. Berrios was originally filed in 2013, after Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios refused to produce documents in response to a subpoena seeking records relating to allegations that his office improperly granted an employee a special property tax exemption.

Assessor Berrios refused to comply with the subpoena, maintaining that the Cook County Inspector General’s office had no authority to investigate him. The Cook County Circuit Court ruled against Berrios, ordering him to turn over the documents to Blanchard’s office, and in December 2015 the Illinois First District Appellate Court upheld that ruling.

Berrios then appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which accepted the case. A decision is expected this winter.

A video of the oral arguments can be found at the Illinois Supreme Court website at this link:

http://multimedia.illinois.gov/court/SupremeCourt/Video/2016/092116_120315.mp4