A St. Louis attorney and his acolytes have brought a mission of judicial reform to Southern Illinois, and Monroe County school districts are the latest public entities being used to prove a point.  

Earlier this month, complaints were filed against the Waterloo, Columbia and Valmeyer school districts for their handling of Freedom of Information Act requests.

The Waterloo and Columbia school districts are included in one filing, with the Valmeyer school district named as the sole defendant in a separate filing.

All complaints describe FOIA requests sent this October which sought documentation of legal services rendered to the districts in 2024 and the first half of 2025.

Specific allegations against all three school districts are virtually identical, with the filings alleging they “did not include complete copies of the requested documents… redacted  non-confidential information” and falsely relied on “over-expansive definitions” of exemptions and exceptions as a basis for “over-redacted” documents.

Exhibits attached to the complaint show heavily redacted expense reports that obscure any information that could be used to identify the purpose of the respective school district’s employment of legal services.

One count of “failure to produce demanded records – wrongful denial” and one count of “willful and intentional violation of FOIA” were entered against each district.

Relief is sought against each defendant, with the plaintiff asking for districts to release the requested documents with only redactions “expressly authorized” by state statute in addition to officially finding the defendants are in violation of several FOIA requirements.

Civil penalties “not less than $2,500 and not more than $5,000 per violation” are also sought, as are “reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.”

The filings were entered on behalf of Judiciocracy, LLC and the Coalition Opposing Governmental Secrecy, or COGS.

Both organizations are based in Missouri, with Judiciocracy describing itself as a “news media organization committed to providing comprehensive and accurate news coverage of misconduct in the justice system.”

Per court information, the mission of COGS is to “aid and encourage citizen participation in government and the political process… by helping them access publicly available information.”

Founded in 2023, COGS, of which Judiciocracy is a member, has engaged in several rounds of mass FOIA filings this year – including requests for syllabus information and metadata from universities, one being Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

COGS members also submitted FOIA requests to Illinois state and county officials in January requesting information about illegal aliens currently incarcerated in corrections facilities.    

Judiciocracy and COGS are both apparently the work of Edward “Coach” Weinhaus, a St. Louis native and attorney who is a lecturer at UCLA, Washington University and Pepperdine University.

According to Weinhaus’ LinkedIn profile, he is also an “academic, tactical and strategic litigation attorney… activist and publisher” who is responsible for at least two legal assistance websites, legalsolved.com and lawyersolved.com, in addition to alabnews.com, a website  covering “attorney misconduct, in all its forms, to improve the practice of law.”

Weinhaus himself is currently the defendant in a lawsuit filed earlier this year, as the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission alleges Weinhaus knowingly posted false information about Cook County judges on alabnews.com.

However, the suit does not seem to have stopped his mission of judicial reform.

Using his position in different colleges and universities, Weinhaus appears to have recruited students into engaging in his form of legal activism by challenging currently accepted FOIA practices, with Southern Illinois the latest focus of those efforts.

Similar filings by Judiciocracy and COGS earlier this month name the Freeburg School District and Jersey Community School District as defendants.