CHICAGO Oral arguments were heard Tuesday in the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals regarding eight Black Lives Matter protestersarrested and jailed beyond 48 hours aftera 2020 demonstration in Rockford.

The plaintiffs were arrested on a Friday evening and held for three days without bond hearings, a common practice in Winnebago County because there is no weekend bond count.

The defendants' attorneys said the Fourth Amendment does not guarantee an individual the right to a bond hearing within 48 hours.

The plaintiffs' attorney, Adele Nicholas, a Chicago-based civil rights advocate, argued that the lack of weekend and holiday bond hearings in Winnebago County results in unreviewed, extended detentions and violates the Fourth Amendment.Reached after the hearing Tuesday, she called Winnebago County an "outlier."

Nicholas noted Cook County has court 365 days a year.

"If you get arrested on Christmas Eve, you get a hearing to determine whether you should be released on bail the next day," she said. "It's not really controversial that that's the appropriate process in almost all jurisdictions."

She added, "Winnebago County's procedures put people at very serious risk of losing their jobs, their income and not being able to take care of their families for no reason other thanWinnebago has deemed it more convenient to only have court on regular business days."

The plaintiffs are:Dylan Mitchell,26;Dayna Schultz, 23;Ivan Holland,25; AndrewEhrhardt,23; and Jaylen Butler, 20, all of Rockford; Ross Wagner,35, of Madison, Wisconsin;Larissa Walston,23, of Loves Park; and Michael Riggs,20, of South Beloit.

Previously: Protesters have spent 100 days outside Rockford City Hall, and they have no plans to leave

Many of the protesters, if not all, participated in one of several civil rights protests held in Rockford and around the country after the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, a manwho died after a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Once the plaintiffs appeared appeared the following Monday before a judge, they were released on their own recognizance.

The plaintiffs' initial filing was dismissed by the district court, which noteda judge signs a probable cause statement within 48 hours.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs arguethe judge does so without the accusedor their attorneys present makingtheprobable cause hearings"constitutionally inadequate" because they deny people who could be released on bail the opportunity to request release within 48 hours.

Photos:Images from four months of protests in Rockford

The defendants are 17th Judicial Circuit Court Chief Judge Eugene Doherty,Sheriff Gary Caruana and Winnebago County.

Doherty is being represented by the Illinois Attorney General's Office. The county is being represented by the law firm of Hinshaw &Culbertson.

Michael Iasparro, a Hinshaw & Culbertson attorney, notedthe district court judgedetermined there is no constitutional right under the Fourth Amendment to abail hearingwithin 48 hours. He is hopeful the U.S. Court of Appeals will rule likewise.

"There'sa presumption of constitutionality if there is a finding of probable causefor somebody arrested without a warrant made by a judge within 48 hours," he said, "but that's never been extended to the right to a bail hearing under the Fourth Amendment."

There is no date by which the court must rule on the case.

Chris Green: cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

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Rockford Black Lives Matter case over bond hearings is now in hands of US Court of Appeals - Rockford Register Star