Shelby Co. – (ECWd)-

Once again the local propaganda Facebook page in Shelby County has pushed a false narrative in the form of a question before doing any due diligence to actually determine the facts of the matter.  These tactics are known for stirring up the sheep that follow the lies and misinformation online and can’t resist commenting on the post as if it were true rather than questioning the accuracy.

“Robert Hanlon reportedly appeared in court today in Will County. Was he representing a private party in violation of the law? More on this as it develops. Photo in comments.”

The photo in the comments was a screenshot of a docket entry by the Will County Circuit Clerk’s office.  That entry DOES NOT report that Robert Hanlon appeared in court.  It reported Robert Handlin appeared in court.

When a poster cautioned the propagandist on trusting anything from a known propaganda page in Will County that posted the same docket entry but went a step further and indicated it was the Shelby County State’s Attorney, the response was most telling.

“Shelby County First – Jay Cee we do our own homework. We do not need any outside assistance.”

Doesn’t need any outside assistance?  Now that is funny!

So, if Shelby County First does their own homework, why not post the truth of what really took place in Will County yesterday? Is it because the truth does not support a narrative that stirs up the local hate and gets them to dog-pile on the post with more lies and misinformation? Did SCF contact Rob Hanlon to get any actual direct information?  The answer is no.

Why are we reporting on this?

“Glenn R Probst – why are the Edgar county watchdogs silent on this issue?? They demand everybody go along with their version of the law but let their friends run amok in my opinion”

We find the above comment comical, especially in light of a response posted to it.

.

The facts of this matter are simple but learning them takes more than sitting behind a keyboard and slinging arrows to stir up division and hate.

• The Circuit Clerk made a docket entry that was incorrect.
• Robert Handlin was not present in the courtroom yesterday.
• Robert Hanlon was present in the courtroom. 
• Robert Hanlon was not representing a private party in violation of the law. 
• The Plaintiffs attorney is Dan Olswang, not Rob Handlin or Rob Hanlon. 
• The Clerk failed to even mention Dan Olswang in the docket entry even though he stood right next to the Defendant’s counsel and informed the court who he was and made comments during the brief hearing.

For those who want to know how we know all these details, we know because Kirk Allen attended the hearing, took notes, and interviewed the Plaintiff as well as two of the attorneys.

Robert Hanlon, the Shelby County State’s Attorney was the attorney for the plaintiff initially in the case, but that representation ended before Hanlon took office as the State’s Attorney in February of 2023.  The case is a simple FOIA case where the township willfully and intentionally failed to comply with FOIA requests.

Hanlon’s presence at yesterday’s hearing was because the Wesley Township Attorney filed a sanctions motion against the two Plaintiffs and two attorneys over a deposition that the Plaintiffs allegedly did not show up for.  It became evident very quickly the Township attorney got out in front of his skis on this as Hanlon was not even involved in this case during the time of the alleged missed deposition.  It appears that the attorney may end up facing sanctions himself over naming an attorney who was not even counsel for the case at the time in question. After the hearing, we found out the defendants no longer wanted the deposition of the Plaintiff which may well make their sanctions motion moot. We do note that the Plaintiff already sat for 1 deposition, and it was only after the Defendants not liking the results that they wanted a second bite at the apple.

For those who dogpiled on the misinformation and insinuated that Hanlon should be charged with a felony and even jailed for appearing in a Will County Courthouse, you should know that every State’s Attorney has the right to defend themselves when falsely accused and doing so does not meet the definition of “practicing law”.

More importantly, those who choose to put any stock in a local “anonymous” Facebook page reportedly run by Dr. Chris Boehm, the same Boehm facing Indirect Criminal Contempt and who also pled the 5th during a simple petition objection hearing, might rethink where they get their information before spreading it as truth.

We will continue to report on this case as we have reported on it for years and should be a case study on how the government uses its resources, our tax dollars, in an attempt to circumvent even the most basic transparency laws.