Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law

Article Title

Procedural Error? Seventh Circuit Fails to Recognize “No Procedure” Is Not “Adequate Procedure”

Authors

Lyal L. Fox III, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law

Abstract

When Jerry Markadonatos was arrested in the Village of Woodridge, Illinois, he was required to pay a thirty-dollar booking fee as required by Woodridge Municipal code, without any procedural process. Mr. Markadonatos challenged this fee as a violation of due process. He eventually brought both a procedural and substantive due process claim. By the time his claim reached the Seventh Circuit it had become particularly complicated in regards to whether the claim should be properly categorized as a procedural or substantive issue and whether Mr. Markadonatos had proper standing to make either claim.

In an en banc hearing, the Seventh Circuit remained split on the issues, with one group avoiding the question altogether by determining the case based on interpreting the ordinance to avoid the constitutional issues. In doing so, the Seventh Circuit failed to recognize that the deprivation of property in the absence of any procedural process must be a procedural due process issue. Judge Hamilton made this argument in his dissent, which should have been adopted by the Seventh Circuit.

Streaming Media

Recommended Citation

Lyal L. Fox III, Procedural Error? Seventh Circuit Fails to Recognize “No Procedure” Is Not “Adequate Procedure”, 10 Seventh Circuit Rev. 308 (2015).
Available at: https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/seventhcircuitreview/vol10/iss2/4