SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – While Cortez Turner was in a hospital room being treated for a gunshot wound to his leg in 2016, police took his clothes. Now, the Illinois Supreme Court is weighing whether that action violated Turner’s expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment.The arguments in the case were among several heard by the high court Tuesday, including a case that could change how police handle certain firearms possession violations.Turner was ultimately convicted of perjury and murder in 2019, at least partially as a result of the evidence police gathered from his room at a Murphysboro hospital, according to court filings in the People v. Turner case.Police had arrived at the hospital in response to a separate gunshot victim and, in the process, seized evidence from Turner’s hospital room, according to court filings. Turner, on the night of the incident in 2016, told hospital staff he was waiting for a ride when he heard gunfire and was hit by an errant bullet, court records show. The filings also stated Turner did not object when police told him they were going to seize his belongings.A forensic examiner later determined by examining Turner’s clothes that the damage to them was caused by gunfire within a range of three inches. Police used that and other evidence to piece together a case against Turner as being part of a drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of a 38-year-old Murphysboro man.Upon his 2019 conviction, Turner was sentenced to 30 years in prison. But he now argues police violated his Fourth Amendment right protecting him from unreasonable governmental search and seizure, and that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a hospital trauma room, and police lacked a warrant.Assistant Attorney General Michael Cebula argued that police did not need a warrant, and that the evidence is admissible to courts, due to what’s known as the “good-faith” exception – a legal principle through which evidence is viewed as permissible in circumstances where the officers were acting out of good faith when conducting a search.“Police were told that he was a gunshot victim,” Cebula told the Supreme Court. “They walk by the room, the door is open, so a police officer acting in good faith believe they have the right to enter this room, certainly when they see bloody clothes in plain view.”Richard Whitney, a lawyer for Turner, told the court there needs to be consideration of how someone in a hospital trauma room not only deserves to be free from search and seizure but may be far from normal critical faculties, which presumes privacy.“Being in a state of undress and vulnerability, experiencing physical pain, receiving medical treatment that exposes large parts of the body, being hooked up to monitors and an IV, these are all intimate activities that you don’t want the general public to be gazing in on,” Whitney said.A motion to suppress the evidence obtained from Turner’s hospital room was denied by a circuit court. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday questioned whether there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in a hospital setting, regardless of room or location within the hospital.Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office argued even if the Supreme Court finds the evidence should have been suppressed, it would be moot in the face of other evidence.“Any error in admitting defendant’s bloody clothes at his bench trial was harmless because the remaining evidence against him is overwhelming,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a brief.Concealed carryIn 2021, Anthony Harvey was arrested and later charged with unlawful use of a weapon after police found a semiautomatic pistol during a traffic stop. During that stop, officers asked Harvey if he had a Firearms Owners Identification card or concealed carry license and he said he didn’t.Now, Harvey is requesting that the Supreme Court reverse his conviction.Harvey’s lawyer argued that the state didn’t provide “affirmative evidence” that he was illegally in possession of the gun. In saying he didn’t have a concealed carry license, Harvey could have meant that he didn’t have documentation on his person, which could have resulted in a different charge.“That is the burden of proof that’s placed on the state and if the state wanted to extinguish any ambiguity or lack of clarity on that, then the officer could have asked a follow-up question,” Philip Payne, Harvey’s state-appointed lawyer, said in court Tuesday. “The state is never required to rely on the defendant to tell him himself.”Instead of using potentially insufficient evidence, according to Payne, the state should have checked whether Harvey had a concealed carry license using the database of CCL holders maintained by the Illinois State Police.But some of the high court’s justices seemed to be wary of this argument during questions to Erin O’Connell, the lawyer representing the state.“The statute seems to put the burden on the licensee to respond to the question from the police officer, correct?” Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis asked.“Correct,” O’Connell replied.O’Connell went on to argue that the state had still met the burden of proof to demonstrate that Harvey illegally possessed the weapon, relying on testimony from officers that Harvey exhibited “furtive movements” to conceal the weapon.“The court doesn’t have to suspend common sense when it’s looking at evidence…” O’Connell said Tuesday. “He’s being asked by the officers, ‘are you licensed?’ And he says ‘no.’ That tends to corroborate that he had never been issued a concealed carry license.”The case follows a recent trend of reexamining firearms regulations following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, a case dealing with New York’s concealed carry permitting law. Subsequent cases at the federal level and in state courts have further strengthened Second Amendment protections for firearms owners and put additional requirements on prosecutors in proving crimes related to weapon possession.Harvey’s lawyers relied on this in written briefs, arguing that in the post-Bruen legal framework, Harvey had a “presumptive right” to possess a firearm.The justices are set to deliberate on the two cases before issuing rulings in the coming months, although no timeline is set for when the justices might deliver their opinion.Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

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The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education anticipates asking lawmakers for more money later this year in order to meet the demands of a massive new education law and make up for reduced federal funding.“My gut is… because you have a lot of federal authority deleted… you’ll see the mother of all supplemental budgets, probably in a special session,” State Board of Education Chair Charlie Shields, of St. Joseph, said during Tuesday’s board meeting.The budget approved by lawmakers for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is more than $1 billion short of the current year’s appropriation, despite a 3.2% bump in pay for the education department’s employees.This is before any possible vetoes or budget withholds by Gov. Mike Parson.Kari Monsees, the department’s commissioner of financial and administrative services, told the board that a “common theme” of the budget was reductions in federal funding. And that impacts the amount of general revenue required next year, he said.“Is that normal?” Mary Schrag, a board member from West Plains asked. “Is it considered realistic that we’re not going to use all those federal funds moving forward from year to year?”Some items usually funded by federal money may be part of a supplemental request, Monsees said. He is most worried about the child-care-subsidy program, which encourages child care providers to serve low-income families.The budget approved by lawmakers last week gives the department almost $260 million for two child care subsidies — a reduction of $23.4 million from current funding. The amount pulled from the state’s general revenue fund is stagnant between the fiscal years, showing a reduction in federal funding.“We are seeing the case loads increase to the point where we’re going to need some of that capacity moving forward,” Monsees said. “It lowers the overall state budget by reducing some of those federal funds. The question is, is there enough left there?”House Budget Chair Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, told reporters in a press conference last week that the House consolidated federal fund requests based on how much was used in the previous year. According to budget documents, the program has a projected 92% utilization rate in the upcoming fiscal year. .The budget, which squeaked through hours before the constitutional deadline, doesn’t include provisions of an omnibus education bill recently signed into law by Parson.The bill at its core expands the K-12 tax-credit scholarships called MOScholars. But it also includes public-education priorities like a raise to the base teacher pay and scholarships for future educators. House lawmakers, in a floor debate on the legislation, wondered if there would be enough money in the state’s budget in future years to help districts raise teacher salaries and other costly provisions.Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, a board member from Pasadena Hills, noted the law’s projected price tag of $468 million when fully implemented.“Do you feel like this budget adequately incorporates all the mandates that are outlined in this bill?” she asked Monsees. “There is a lot of concern from the educational community that there are a lot of unfunded mandates in this bill.”A couple items, like expanding the small school grant program and providing lunch to pre-k students, are unfunded, Monsees said. He anticipates requesting the funding in a supplemental budget.The mandated raise to teachers base pay doesn’t take effect until fiscal year 2026, he said. The state has been offering an opt-in matching grant program to raise teacher pay to $38,000, subject to annual reappropriation. This year, that amount will bump up to $40,000 before the new law forces districts to raise salaries with a grant program that will also require funds annually.“The requests that you’re gonna see for fiscal year (2026) will be significant,” Monsees told board members. “It was going to be significant anyway, and (the new law) makes it where it will be an even bigger request.”Shields also foresees budget woes.“I think you are two to three years out from having a huge challenge,” he said.Shields and Monsees agreed that they had never seen a budget process like the one that occurred last week, with closed-door negotiations and without a conference committee where lawmakers openly compromise on the budget.Rudi Keller contributed to this report. This story was originally published by The Missouri Independent, part of the States Newsroom.

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Mayor Tishaura Jones says she has set the city of St. Louis on a course to be “safer, stronger and healthier” than it is today.“Over the last three years, my administration has worked tirelessly to face challengeshead-on and begin the work of making changes that you can see and feel,” Jones said Tuesday night to a crowd of about 350 who listened to her State of the City speech at the Sun Theater in Grand Center. “But it would be irresponsible for me to stand before you today and claim total victory.”Jones recapped the investments in a pilot guaranteed basic income program, street paving, traffic safety, small-business grants, building demolition and home renovation that the city was able to make with its $500 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act. That includes the acquisition of a building that will eventually house several city departments.The city purchased the former headquarters of Killark Electric at Martin Luther King and Vandeventer in 2023. Once rehab work is completed, the site at 3940 Martin Luther King, to be known as the Monarch at MLK, will house a workforce development hub. It will also be the permanent home for the Land Reutilization Authority, the city’s workforce training agency, the Office of Violence Prevention and its Northside Economic Empowerment Center.“The Monarch is a symbol of transformation, hope and rebirth, a symbol of the changes you can see and feel in north St. Louis, and it will help weave together St. Louis’ ancestral roots with inclusive opportunities for generations to come as we continue to become a global destination for industry and innovation,” Jones said.Success and strugglesIn addition to the ARPA investments, Jones touted legislative achievements, including passage of a bill that makes it easier for restaurants to get liquor licenses. The Board of Aldermen also authorized the use of automated traffic enforcement cameras, which Jones says will help make city streets safer.The city’s 911 response also is improving, with more than 80% of calls being answered within 10 seconds. That’s still below the national standard of 90% but better than the 50% within 10 seconds last year.Jones highlighted last year’s drop in homicides, though 158 people were killed, as well as a 50% reduction in juvenile shootings.“Our crime stats are down and moving in the right direction, but we have still more work to do so everyone can feel safe in their neighborhoods,” she said, adding that residents at a recent event had told her that “although they heard that crime was down in St. Louis, they couldn’t see it in their daily lives.”Unlike in past years, Jones refrained from making any major funding commitments – a reflection of uncertainty about the city’s finances and a recognition that all ARPA funds are spoken for.Officials are worried about the impact of pending litigation over whether the city can charge its 1% earnings tax to people who work remotely for St. Louis-based companies. The tax is the largest source of revenue for St. Louis’ general fund, and the city’s budget staff projects it will bring in about $12 million less than last year.Jones froze hiring for all but essential positions on March 29, something she called a “difficult but necessary decision to financially protect the city.”“But if Jefferson City doesn’t pass any laws decreasing our earnings tax by the time session ends, I’m happy to say that we will lift the hiring freeze on Monday, May 20,” she said to applause. The session ends Friday.Jones had originally framed the freeze as being in part a response to changes that the Board of Aldermen made to the governance of the city’s firefighter pension systems. A spokesman for Jones said after the speech that while the city was still concerned about the cost of those changes, a $26 million contingency cut built into the budget made officials comfortable enough to reopen hiring.That governance change also requires the authorization of state lawmakers, and bills are pending for that purpose at the Capitol. But when Jones began speaking around 7 p.m., Senate Democrats had been holding the floor for nearly 29 hours to stall unrelated legislation that would make it harder to amend the state constitution, with no signs of sitting down.Reframing the narrativeJones will launch her reelection bid later this week, and the success of any political campaign can depend more on how people feel they are doing than any measurable metric.To that end, Jones challenged those in attendance Tuesday to change the way they talk and treat the city every day.“What if we spoke life into St. Louis every day?” she said. “From now on I’m asking you, when you hear someone talking trash about St. Louis, tell them, ‘Every day we’re doing the work with a capital W to make our city safer, stronger and healthier for many years to come.’”

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