Court Opinion

ID: 9819376
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:24:03.309572+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:10:10.123075
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE WELCH, specially concurring: I specially concur in the result reached by my brethren. I would affirm the summary judgment entered by the trial court in favor of defendant because, whether rightly or wrongly decided, Cree I did decide the issues raised by plaintiff in the case now before us. Accordingly, the trial court was bound to follow our decision in Cree I, and the summary judgment for defendant was proper. However, although I concurred in the majority opinion in Cree I, I now have reservations about the correctness of our holding when we stated the following: “[E]yen though Illinois Central attempted to reserve a portion of the right-of-way for itself when it purportedly transferred the right-of-way to the City, it appears that Illinois Central had no authority to do so because the [Interstate Commerce] Commission, by operation of law, had already transferred the entire easement to Crab Orchard.” (Emphasis added.) Cree I, 294 Ill. App. 3d at 332. Nevertheless, the correctness of our ruling in Cree I is not appropriate for discussion or disposition herein. Accordingly, I specially concur in the majority opinion.