In re Marriage of Miller

State: Illinois

Docket No: 104022, 104035 cons. Rel

Case Date: 11/29/2007

Preview:Docket Nos. 104022, 104035 cons.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

In re MARRIAGE OF LENORA ANN MILLER, Appellant, and HAROLD E. MILLER (H.E. Miller, Sr., Appellee; Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Appellant). Opinion filed November 29, 2007.

JUSTICE FITZGERALD delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Thomas and Justices Freeman, Kilbride, Garman, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION At issue in this appeal is whether the penalty provision contained in section 35(a) of the Income Withholding for Support Act (Withholding Act) (750 ILCS 28/35 (West 2004)), as applied to an employer who knowingly failed to turn over child support payments withheld from his employee's wages in a timely manner, violates the employer's substantive due process rights. The circuit court of Cook County rejected the employer's constitutional challenge and applied the statutory $100-per-day penalty, entering judgment against the employer in the amount of $1,172,100. The appellate court reversed the judgment of the circuit court, holding that the statutory penalty,

as applied in this case, was unconstitutionally severe. 369 Ill. App. 3d 46, 51. We reverse the judgment of the appellate court and affirm the judgment of the circuit court. BACKGROUND On May 1, 2001, the circuit court of Cook County entered a judgment dissolving the marriage of Lenora Ann Miller and Harold E. Miller. The judgment incorporated the parties' marital settlement agreement under which Lenora was granted custody of the couple's only child and Harold was required to pay child support. The support order, entered the same day, set child support in the amount of $82 per week. In accordance with the support order, a "Notice to Withhold Income" issued immediately to Harold's employer

Download In re Marriage of Miller.pdf