Brickbat: Illinois Justice

For almost three years, the state of Illinois seized Ruth Soukup’s pension payments. Soukup was a clerk at a gas station that closed owing money to the Illinois lottery. State records showed that Soukup was neither the owner of nor an officer of the store. But officials say the way some of the lottery paperwork was filled out indicated Soukup was a part-owner or officer, so they tried to collect from her. The state stopped taking Soukup’s money only after local media picked up the story.