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Case Name
Arsberry v. State of Illinois
PC-IL-0017
Docket / Court
1:99-cv-02457 ( N.D. Ill. )
State/Territory
Illinois
Case Type(s)
Prison Conditions
Attorney Organization
EEOC
Case Summary
On April 15, 1999, prisoners incarcerated by the Illinois Department of Corrections and individuals wishing to call such prisoners, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; the Sherman Antitrust Act; the Telecommunications Act of 1996; ...
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On April 15, 1999, prisoners incarcerated by the Illinois Department of Corrections and individuals wishing to call such prisoners, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; the Sherman Antitrust Act; the Telecommunications Act of 1996; and Illinois state law. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, the People's Law Offices, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, filed the suit against the State of Illinois and various telecommunications companies. They claimed that the telephone service rates at various correctional facilities were exorbitant, in violation of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The plaintiffs sought damages and injunctive relief against the phone companies and the state agencies responsible for the arrangements with the companies.
Many of the prisons and jails in Illinois grant one phone company the exclusive right to provide telephone service to the prisoners, in return for 50 percent of the revenues generated by the service. The plaintiffs' claimed that the prices were excessive and higher than necessary to cover the costs involved.
On March 22, 2000, Judge William Hibbler dismissed the suit, concluding that plaintiffs' claims were beyond the Court's jurisdiction by reason of the filed-rate and primary-jurisdiction doctrines. 117 F. Supp. 2d 743 (N.D. Ill. 2000). The Court found that the telecommunications statutes clearly assigned to the FCC and ICC the authority to determine the reasonableness of telecomm rates and that those agencies were experts in important ways that the Court was not. Plaintiffs appealed the decision and on March 19, 2001, in an opinion written by Judge Posner, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit modified and affirmed the District Court's decision. Arsberry v. Illinois, 244 F.3d 558 (7th Cir. 2001). The Court of Appeals found that plaintiffs' First Amendment claims lacked merit and that their remaining constitutional claims were barred by the filed-rate and primary-jurisdiction doctrines. On May 29, 2001, the Court of Appeals denied plaintiffs' motion for rehearing en banc and on December 3, 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court denied plaintiffs' petition for certiorari, Arsberry v. Illinois, 534 U.S. 1062 (2001).
Nate West - 10/09/2014
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Issues and Causes of Action
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Issues
Constitutional Clause
Due Process
Equal Protection
Freedom of speech/association
Defendant-type
Corrections
Jurisdiction-wide
General
Phone
Plaintiff Type
Private Plaintiff
Type of Facility
Government-run
Causes of Action
42 U.S.C. § 1983
42 U.S.C. § 1981
Case Details
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Defendant(s)
State of Illinois
Plaintiff Description
Prisoners and those wishing to have telephone contact with them challenging the fairness of collect call telephone rates
Indexed Lawyer Organizations
EEOC
Class action status sought
No
Class action status granted
No
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Defendant
Public Int. Lawyer
Yes
Nature of Relief
None
Source of Relief
None
Filed
04/15/1999
Case Closing Year
2001
Case Ongoing
No
Additional Resources
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Documents
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Court
Docket(s)
N.D. Ill.
01/03/2003
1:99-cv-02457
PC-IL-0017-9000.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
General Documents
N.D. Ill.
03/22/2000
Order
(117 F.Supp.2d 743)
PC-IL-0017-0002.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
N.D. Ill.
03/22/2000
Judgment in a Civil Case [ECF# 98]
PC-IL-0017-0001.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
U.S. Court of Appeals
03/19/2001
Reported Appellate Opinion
(244 F.3d 558)
PC-IL-0017-0003.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Google Scholar
U.S. Supreme Court
12/03/2001
Memorandum decision - certiorari denied
(534 U.S. 1062)
PC-IL-0017-0004.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: Westlaw
People
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Judges
Easterbrook, Frank Hoover
(Seventh Circuit)
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PC-IL-0017-0003
Evans, Terence Thomas
(E.D. Wis., Seventh Circuit)
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PC-IL-0017-0003
Hibbler, William J.
(N.D. Ill.)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Posner, Richard Allen
(Seventh Circuit)
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PC-IL-0017-0003
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Bradtke, James G.
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Deutsch, Michael
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Dolan, Patrick Daley
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-9000
Elkin, Laurie S
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Seliger, Stephen G
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Shapiro, Carl W
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Strauss, Paul Leonard
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Susler, Janis M.
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-9000
Defendant's Lawyers
Ackerman, Julie Brown
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-9000
Alexis, Geraldine M
(California)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Blanchard, Patrick Malone
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Blickensderfer, Matthew C
(Ohio)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Bricker, Ross Benjamin
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Bruckner, Paul Francis
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Buzanis, Alexandra C
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Castiglione, Paul Anthony
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Champagne, Ellen L
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Downing, Thomas F
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Layden, David Charles
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Leist, Donald B
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Light, Erik G
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0003
Lipton, Lois
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Lord, Patricia Johnson
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Morrison, Jacqueline A
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Pascal, Roger
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Pastroff, Sanford Mark
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Peters, Charles H. R.
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Senner, Gary
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Siegel, Richard John
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Smith, Leslie M.
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Volgelson, Jay M
(Texas)
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PC-IL-0017-0002 | PC-IL-0017-0003 | PC-IL-0017-9000
Welsh, Mary E.
(Illinois)
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PC-IL-0017-0003
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