Francis Boyle, professor of law at the University of Illinois, is asking state officials to prevent "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" from happening this week.

Boyle filed a complaint with the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, requesting that it immediately suspend all liquor licenses held by Cochrane's of Champaign, and to revoke those liquor licenses.

Boyle said in his complaint that Cochrane's was the founder and promoter of "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day," with the event this year to occur Friday.

"I think there's going to be a riot here, from what all the indications are," Boyle said.

Boyle said the event in the past has led to physical assaults, including rapes; destruction of both private and public property; widespread underage drinking; large-scale drunken driving; and people hospitalized for overdoses of alcohol and injuries caused by excessive drinking.

Two years ago, a 22-year-old female UI graduate attending "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" died after falling off a motorcycle near campus.

"The good citizens of Champaign and Urbana will suffer from civil disturbances, large-scale public drunkenness, destruction of property, physical assaults and batteries, rapes and more deaths," Boyle said in his complaint.

So he asked the commission to suspend all liquor licenses for every bar and liquor store between Lincoln Avenue and Prospect Avenue and between University Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue.

In a separate letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Boyle asked for intervention under the state Illinois Emergency Management Act, which gives the governor power "to suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages."

Boyle asked the governor to do so in Champaign-Urbana from Feb. 29 through March 2.

Katherine Ridgeway, spokeswoman for the state liquor commission, confirmed the agency received two letters from Boyle, describing the upcoming event as a "pub crawl," along with descriptions of past events and "alleged illegal behavior stemming from the event."

She said a "quick check" of commission records does not show any enforcement action regarding the event in C-U.

"In Illinois, much of the enforcement decisions on how to handle events like pub crawls are left to the local commissioner to determine the best course of action to ensure compliance with local ordinances and the Liquor Control Act," Ridgeway said.

Virtually all the UI campus bars are in Champaign, where Mayor Jerry Schweighart is also liquor commissioner.

Local officials can best decide how to use resources and to "determine whether or not the event will cause an immediate threat to public safety," she said.

The state liquor commission conducts compliance checks as needed to help local enforcement of the law, Ridgeway said, and state and local officials will decide whether to start a special investigation into "Unofficial."

She said the commission has no legal authority to fine, suspend or revoke a license without clear evidence of wrongdoing and without a hearing.

State law gives the local liquor control commissioner the authority to issue an emergency closure order if the operation of a business will threaten the welfare of the community, Ridgeway said. But local authorities must be sure some serious illegal activity required the closure or they could face a lawsuit.

Boyle said his complaints were prompted by lack of action at the local level.

"I condemn, in the strongest terms possible, our elected public officials for going along with this. How dare these people allow this to go forward," Boyle said. "I don't want a riot to start here or have women raped or another 22-year-old killed. Let's stop this now and nip it in the bud so we don't have to worry about it."