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Monday, December 23, 2024

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Hot Topics

Illinois sanctuary law will hinder, but won’t stop ICE agents in potential deportation actions

By W.J. Kennedy |
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker recently boasted that officials in heavily Democratic Illinois will attempt to shield illegal immigrants from potential deportation actions under the incoming Trump administration. An advocate for victims of illegal immigrant crime says state actions could place the state and local authorities on a legal collision course with the feds

Hot Topics

Lawsuit: IL law requiring insurers to pay for abortions tramples religious freedom rights

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A group of pro-life groups and employers, including a private school and a manufacturer, filed suit against Gov. Pritzker and the state, saying the Reproductive Health Act violates their First Amendment rights and federal law by forcing them to pay for others' abortions against their religious beliefs

Hot Topics

Justice for Jussie? IL Supreme Court overturns Smollett conviction for lying to cops

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Illinois Supreme Court said Smollett's conviction for lying to police about his hoax attack claims was an unconstitutional violation of his rights to due process because he should have been able to rely on the charge-dropping deal from Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx

Hot Topics

Judges: Reforms to limit harm from IL biometrics law should apply to pending lawsuits, too

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Recent rulings from a Chicago federal judge and a Cook County judge are seen as key wins for Illinois businesses, as they begin the work of answering a key question that could decide the fates of potentially hundreds of lawsuits with many millions of dollars at stake

Hot Topics

Glock: IL law underpinning Chicago's gun violence lawsuit violates Second Amendment, is unconstitutional

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Firearms maker Glock says Chicago and Illinois are attempting to use a lawsuit under an allegedly unconstitutional Illinois consumer fraud law to win a court order all but banning the sale of Glock handguns, which Glock said violates the Second Amendment and the Commerce Clause

Hot Topics

Constitution doesn't block Indiana's ban on gender transition procedures for kids: Appeals court

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A divided federal appeals panel said the Indiana ban on surgeries, puberty blockers and other care do not violate parent's rights to direct their children's medical care nor the speech rights of doctors, dissolving a lower court's injunction blocking enforcement of the law

Hot Topics

'Unconstitutional affront:' Federal judge strikes down Illinois 'assault weapons' ban

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Saying the law falls far short under the Constitution, U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn entered an injunction which would block the state from enforcing Gov. Pritzker's ban on so-called 'assault weapons.' The ruling is stayed for 30 days, pending an expected appeal from the state

Hot Topics

Judge mostly tosses effort to force IL elections authorities to make voter rolls more accurate

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Chicago federal judge said conservative groups don't have standing to sue Illinois state and county election officials for allegedly failing to live up to their obligations under federal election law to remove people who aren't eligible to vote from Illinois voter rolls

Hot Topics

Federal judge asked to block IL law that restricts what employers can say to their workers

By Jonathan Bilyk |
In a new filing, the Illinois Policy Institute and Technology and Manufacturing Association say the state has unconstitutionally set up a regime to allow labor unions and other political allies to speak, while silencing employers' speech on politics, public policy and religion in the workplace

Hot Topics

IL state teacher scholarship program unconstitutionally excludes white applicants, lawsuit says

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The American Alliance for Equal Rights filed the lawsuit in Springfield federal court, accusing the state of unconstitutionally discriminating against applicants who aren't racial minorities from participating in a state-funded scholarship program intended to increase the number of minority teachers in Illinois

Hot Topics

IL counties can't end lawsuit accusing them of unconstitutionally taking homes over unpaid taxes

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Chicago federal judge said the counties can't beat the lawsuit by claiming they aren't violating the Constitution because state law allows private investors to keep the homes and the profits from the forced sales, not the governments themselves

Hot Topics

Lawsuit: CTU has wrongly refused for years to release financial audits, show how spending members' dues

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four Chicago Teachers Union members, who say the union has violated its own rules in hiding spending reviews from its own members since 2020.

Hot Topics

Lawsuit against Gotion not done yet, plaintiffs say, after judge calls first version 'unanswerable'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Kankakee County judge said a group of Manteno residents trying to pull the plug on a huge lithium battery plant whose owners have ties to the Chinese Communist Party and which is backed by Gov. Pritzker have more work to do to back their claims officials rammed through an illegal project

Hot Topics

IL Supreme Court questions if Smollett special prosecution wrongly undermined Foxx, set bad precedent

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments concerning actor Jussie Smollett's bid to reverse his conviction for staging an infamous fake racially-motivated attack in 2019, that spurred a politically-motivated outcry of sympathy and demands for justice from Kamala Harris and other left-wing politicians and celebrities

Hot Topics

Lawsuit: Anti-cop bias, politics at COPA producing 'tainted' investigations into Chicago police conduct

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A deputy administrator at Chicago's Civilian Office of Police Accountability says he was fired after shining light on alleged bias and political motives at the office under its current top administrator

Hot Topics

IL Baptists plan to appeal ruling that IL abortion coverage mandate doesn't violate religious rights

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Springfield judge agreed with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul that the state's abortion health insurance coverage mandate doesn't violate religious objectors' rights because they can still buy health insurance from other states

Hot Topics

Illinois ban on carrying concealed weapons on transit unconstitutional, judge says

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A Rockford federal judge particularly called a legal theory advanced by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx that government can ban guns on all public property "breathtaking, jawdropping, and eyepopping" for the harm it could deliver to constitutional rights everywhere

Hot Topics

Bears to settle lawsuit accusing them of anti-white male hiring discrimination

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal judge announced the settlement between the Chicago Bears and a white male DePaul University law student who said the Bears intentionally discriminated against him and other white males in advertising and hiring for a "diversity" legal position with the team