Illinois: U.S. District Court Finds Cook County Liable for Property Tax Sale Taking

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois previously found that Cook County violated the federal Fifth Amendment’s takings clause and Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause when it unlawfully retained surplus proceeds from property tax sale foreclosures. The court left for trial whether the county could be held liable under the US Supreme Court decision Monell v. Department of Social Services of NYC. Under Monell, in cases where a county failed to address a potential constitutional violation, the county is liable if substantial notice or risk of the constitutional issue existed and if the county was deliberately ...