Edgar v. K.L.

Plaintiffs in this class action contend that the mental health care system of Illinois violates the Constitution of the United States. With the consent of the parties, the district judge appointed a panel of three experts to investigate the state’s institutions and programs. The panel’s charge permits its members and aides to meet with patients and state employees outside the presence of counsel, for otherwise they could not collect rehable data. Later the panel began to meet in private with the judge, without such a compelling reason. When defendants learned that one of these meetings, which…