A Lake County sheriff’s deputy has filed a federal lawsuit against the county’s sheriff and state’s attorney alleging he was demoted as part of political retaliation for supporting the state’s attorney’s opponent.
Ari Briskman, who is a Lake County sheriff’s deputy, filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg and Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart.
Briskman alleges that Idleburg and Rinehart violated his First Amendment rights of free speech and association.
Rinehart, a Democrat, ran for re-election in the November 2024 General Election.
His opponent was Mary Cole, a Republican who is a local private practice attorney and former Lake County assistant state’s attorney.
The lawsuit said that Briskman, along with a “large number” of other law enforcement employees in the county, opposed Rinehart’s candidacy because the state’s attorney was “soft on crime” and an “outspoken supporter” of the Illinois SAFE-T Act.
The lawsuit said that a photo was taken of Briskman while he was on duty returning evidence to Cole’s law office after it had been seized in a police investigation involving one of Cole’s clients.
The suit said that a member of Cole’s campaign asked Briskman if the photo could be used in Cole’s political ads and Briskman agreed, with the stipulation that his face was not shown and the law enforcement agency he worked for was not shown.
The lawsuit complaint alleges that Idleburg, a supporter and “close friend” of Rinehart and a fellow Democrat, subsequently launched an investigation into Cole’s campaign and Briskman “for the purpose of chilling Briskman’s free speech” and “deterring Briskman and other sheriff’s deputies” from participating and supporting Cole’s campaign.
Rinehart is accused of “consorting” with Idleburg in generating the complaint and “working together [to] orchestrate the disciplinary action against Briskman.”
The suit said Idleburg sent sheriff’s deputies to Cole’s office to “interrogate her” about the circumstances of the photo while they demanded documents, emails, photos and other information from Cole.
The deputies appeared at Cole’s unannounced on more than one occasion demanding records and information while presenting themselves as “being part of an official law enforcement investigation,” the lawsuit said.
Briskman at the time held the rank of sergeant and was in charge of the Sheriff’s Office’s Marine Unit.
The suit said the sheriff demoted Briskman to the rank of deputy the day after Rinehart won re-election in November.
“All I ever wanted to do was to continue to do my job and serve the citizens of Lake County,” Briskman said.
The lawsuit seeks back pay for lost wages, reinstatement of Briskman to the rank of sergeant, attorneys’ fees, punitive damages and compensatory damages.
“Sgt. Briskman had the same First Amendment rights as every other citizen in Lake County – to support the candidate of his choice,” Briskman’s attorney Keith Hunt said.
“But the Sheriff and State’s Attorney used their offices to punish Briskman and to [prevent] others from supporting Mary Cole,” Hunt said.
The suit alleges that Idleburg’s actions were hypocritical as he has previously used photos of uniformed Lake County sheriff’s deputies in his own political posts on social media.
Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Vice, Idleburg’s opponent in the November 2022 General Election, was previously investigated by Idleburg and Rinehart for using government symbols and equipment in campaign-related material, the lawsuit said.
Idleburg told Rinehart that Vice’s conduct “may constitute a misdemeanor” and asked Rinehart to screen the matter for charges, according to emails shown as exhibits in the lawsuit.
Rinehart referred the matter to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office in September 2022 due to his conflict of interest and political connection to Idleburg.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office sent a letter to Rinehart’s office in October 2022 declining to pursue charges against Vice based on the alleged violations of the Lake County Ethics and Conduct Code, which does not subject many county employees, including sheriff’s employees, to penalties of the code.
In response to the lawsuit filed by Briskman, Idleburg told Lake and McHenry County Scanner: “The plaintiff, a current employee, has exercised his right to file a lawsuit. We are confident in our actions and will respond through the proper legal channels.”
Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Director of Communications Sara Avalos told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the state’s attorney’s office is unable to comment on the pending litigation against Rinehart but “we look forward to fully prevailing in court.”
An initial court hearing has not been scheduled yet in the suit, court records show.