Siu Law School is home to Illinois Oberster Court of Justice, oral arguments on the possession of drugs, custody – the daily Egyptian woman
The ballroom of the Siu student center became the framework of the Supreme Court of Illinois on Tuesday morning, March 18. After over a year of preparation, the Simmons Law School in March the Supreme Court of Illinois' March 2025 was organized oral arguments at the Carbondale Campus, on which subjects such as conviction, drug ownership and child aid were discussed.
According to Angela Upchurch, reigning Dean of the Simmons Law School, almost 850 people took part in the day event. Among those present included Siu students of various disciplines, students of the local students and middle school students, members of the SIU system and Simmons Law School. Rows of chairs filled the ballroom when the participants gathered and waited for the judges to take their places on stage.
“We had an enormous reaction from the community, both schools, but also only members of the Carbondale community,” said Upchurch. “Just like members of the public, students and our law students were very excited.”
After a brochure For all participants, the court, which is based in Illinois' Capitol of Springfield, has held oral arguments in the entire state in recent years in order to “raise awareness of the court department and the important role of the court system in the interpretation of state laws”, a tradition that the court rides “on the circle”. The Supreme Court of Illinois in Mt. Vernon, Ottawa, Lisle, Champaign, Godfrey, Chicago and Dekalb has met since 2008. However, the carbondale turnout is the largest that the court saw in a personal environment outside the location, said Upchurch.
“The Simmons Law School was founded in the public interest for the public well -being – it is our unofficial motto,” she said. “We believe that our task is not only to train lawyers – which it is a lot – but also to achieve the community and to be a line for them to understand the government, to understand the judiciary, to understand its role as citizens. This was an opportunity for us, the middle school students and the high school to take a chance. For the first time that they have come to Carbondale.”
The reigning dean and professor of Law Angela Upchurch opens the meeting for oral arguments, which is to be negotiated by the Supreme Court of Illinois in the Siu Student Center on March 18, 2025 in Carbondale, Illinois. (Lylee Gibbs | @Lyleegibbbbshoto)
Two cases of Illinois were discussed on Monday: Case No. 130344, People v. Hoffman and case No. 130931, Hulsh against Hulsh.
In the case of People v. Hoffman was convicted by the accused Krystle Hoffman for medication -related murder. In 2017 she delivered heroin worth around 60 US dollars to Lorna Haseltine, which Hoffman explained as a plan to help her friend with his heroin addiction. Haseltine paid the heroin and took the drugs that turned out to be fentanyl while preparing for a party in her parents' house. Haseltine was not reacted and later declared dead.
Hoffman is guilty of the drug -induced murder, which usually has a minimum penalty of six years. Hoffman asked for a lower sentence under 730 ILCS 5/5-4-1 (C-1.5)A legal sub -section that enables a court to impose a lower punishment if “the crime contains the use or possession of drugs”. The court found that the law was not applicable in a case of drug-induced murder, but the Court of Appeals Hoffman's judgment and ordered the court to check whether there was a judgment below the minimum minimum limit. The state appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court of Illinois.
In Hulsh against Hulsh, Jeremy Hulsh kidnapped his two children, who lived in Slovakia with her mother Viera Hulsh – the plaintiff. After the divorce in 2019, Viera received primary custody, while Jeremy was granted visiting rights. In October 2019, Jeremy brought the children to the Chicago region. A federal court ordered Jeremy to return the children to Viera, and Viera received the legal fees and costs they incur to get the children back. The fees that the court found as “double or inappropriate” or “not by documentation or not properly according to the law” were excluded. Subsequently, Viera Jeremy's mother and brother sued in front of a state court and claimed that they had helped him the costs of a charter plane and accommodation without informing them about their children's whereabouts. A court and an appellate court dismissed the lawsuit. Viera appeal against the decisions at the Supreme Court of Illinois.
For the hundreds of law students who filled a large part of the room, it was an opportunity to see the process with their own eyes that looked at the oral hearings on campus. In the law students of the first year, Nina Severin and Olivia Miller, who prepare for preparing their oral arguments of the semester, the opportunity for their current workload was relevant.
“It showed us how a federal procedure and a state procedure work,” said Severin. “Something because it is the Supreme Court, although it was Illinois, there is a general idea of how it works and daily practice.”
This opportunity gives law students the opportunity to see and learn legal disputes in real time. To learn about Severin, how to speak, appeal to the judges and represent a case with a large audience, is the most advantageous for her as a student, she said.
“It is also cool to bring questions to the Supreme Court so that you can interpret it differently and create new laws,” said Severin. “I think the developing legal system is very important.”
Law students were not the only ones in the crowd who learned the process, but several young junior high and high school students sat in the audience and asked several questions after the event.
“It was nice to see that younger students see the Junior High student here, like students and students,” said Miller. “I grew up in rural Missouri and we never really had this kind of opportunity. To see that the Supreme Court of Illinois comes to a rural area.”
Upchurch had a similar feeling. “I hope that you (participants) understand that professions like Law are not out of reach. One of the things on which the Simmons Law School really works is to remedy what the Supreme Court of Illinois has recognized as” legal deserts “. These are areas in the state in which very few practicing lawyers serve.
Uppchurch not only has the opportunity to observe the law in practice, but also wants the students to recognize that the court should benefit them.
“I also hope that with the understanding that this state and its institutions like the Supreme Court are really for them,” she said. “That it is in your interest to know what's going on to get informed when you vote in order to really be an active member of the state of Illinois.”
Before the Supreme Court of Illinois had postponed, the thesis of the highest judge Mary Jane addressed the students in the crowd.
“We talked about great ideas, but hopefully they also saw that these great ideas influence the life of real people,” said these. “Krystle Hoffman, the Hulsh family, which is important to you today. You have had the opportunity to participate in one of the most central, keystone parts of us as a democracy. This is the rule of law. The rule of law applies to these people I mentioned.
The thesis said that the next step of the court is to withdraw into the conference room, to discuss the cases, to make a decision and finally to write a statement that she said that it can be expected within a month or two.
The news editor Carly Gist can be achieved [email protected]. Editor -in -chief Lylee Gibbs can be achieved [email protected]. Follow the daily Egyptian on Facebook and X @Dailyegyptian to stay up to date on the daily Egyptian.
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