Better Government Association v. Blagojevich

              Filed 11/19/08 NO. 4-08-0173
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
BETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION and DAN
SPREHE,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, in His Official
Capacity as Governor of the State of
Illinois,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from
Circuit Court of
Sangamon County
No. 07MR5
Honorable
Patrick W. Kelley,
Judge Presiding.
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JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:
This case presents the question of whether the recipi-ent
of a federal grand jury subpoena, acting as a public official
for the State of Illinois, has the discretion to refuse a request
to disclose that subpoena, pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/1 through 11 (West 2006)). We
conclude that in this case, the public official does not have
such discretion.
In August 2006, defendant, Rod R. Blagojevich, in his
official capacity as Governor of the State of Illinois, denied
the request of plaintiffs, the Better Government Association and
Dan Sprehe (collectively, BGA), to disclose federal grand jury
subpoenas and related correspondence, pursuant to the FOIA. In
September 2006, the Governor reaffirmed his earlier denial.
In August 2007, the BGA filed an amended complaint,
requesting, in part, that the trial court issue an order compel-