Supreme Court of Illinois

In the matter of termination of parental rights of a minor, the matter is remanded to the circuit court where: 1) the appellate court found that the circuit court should not have made its initial ruling as a matter of discretion, but should have required the State to prove its case by a preponderance of the evidence; 2) the appellate court proceeded to evaluate the evidence pursuant to it, and found the State's presentation of evidence to be inadequate; and 3) the appellate court should not have evaluated the evidence, rather, it should have remanded to the lower court so that the proper standard of proof could be applied there.

Appellate Information

• Decided 10/21/2004
• Published 10/21/2004

Judges

• Justice FITZGERALD delivered the opinion of the court:

Court

• Supreme Court of Illinois

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, Richard A. Devine, State's Attorneys, Chicago (Deborah Ahlstrand, Nancy Kisicki, Assistant Attorneys General, Chicago, Renee Goldfarb, James Fitzgerald, Nancy Grauer Kisicki, Carrie Strobel Wells, Stephanie A. Buck, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People., Patrick T. Murphy, Cook County Public Guardian, Chicago (Charles P. Golbert, Allison D. Ortlieb, Carrie C. Fung, of counsel), for the minor., Myra A. Marcaurelle, Jack L. Block, of Sachnoff & Weaver, Ltd., Chicago, for amici curiae Loyola Childlaw Center and National Coalition for Child Protection Reform.


• For Appellees:
  
• Richard T. Cozzola, Sheri M. Danz, Diana C. White, Maureen Looker, Nicole Bazer, Chicago, for appellee.