Only certain counties can sue
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Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a measure that requires lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of executive orders or state laws to be filed in either Cook or Sangamon county.
The Democratic-controlled state legislature passed the bill along party lines last month. Democrats who supported the legislation said it was necessary to prevent people with a grievance against the state from selecting the county in which to file a lawsuit based on where they think they can get a favorable ruling.
Supporters also said the measure will conserve resources for the attorney general’s office, which represents the state in court. Sangamon County is home to the state capital, Springfield, while Chicago in Cook County is a second base for state government.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawsuits have been filed in multiple counties challenging Pritzker’s executive orders related to the pandemic as well as recently enacted state laws abolishing cash bail and banning certain high-powered semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
“One attorney was charging people $200 to have their names added as plaintiffs to (a gun ban) lawsuit,” Democratic state Rep. Jay Hoffman said last month in reference to the numerous lawsuits filed by unsuccessful Republican attorney general candidate Thomas DeVore.
Republicans called the measure a power grab by the Democratic majority. Senate Republican Leader John Curran of Downers Grove said in a statement on Tuesday it “is clearly an attempt by the governor and the attorney general to send constitutional challenges to courts that they believe will be more favorable to the Administration.”
“In doing so, they are discrediting judges in suburban and downstate Illinois, and creating geographic barriers to citizens accessing our court system,” Curran said.
State Rep. Dan Caulkins of Decatur, who has sued the state over the sweeping gun ban signed into law in January, voiced similar objections during the floor debate on the bill last month.
“They pass unconstitutional laws to make law-abiding citizens criminals, and then they make those same citizens travel hundreds of miles to a kangaroo court that they control,” Caulkins said of Democrats. “Tyrants are always the same, whether kings or lawless Chicago politicians.”
Hoffman, who is from Swansea, a town in the Metro East area outside St. Louis, noted during the debate that the Circuit Court in Sangamon County is dominated by Republican judges.
The new measure takes effect immediately.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a measure that requires lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of executive orders or state laws to be filed in either Cook or Sangamon county.
The Democratic-controlled state legislature passed the bill along party lines last month. Democrats who supported the legislation said it was necessary to prevent people with a grievance against the state from selecting the county in which to file a lawsuit based on where they think they can get a favorable ruling.
Supporters also said the measure will conserve resources for the attorney general’s office, which represents the state in court. Sangamon County is home to the state capital, Springfield, while Chicago in Cook County is a second base for state government.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawsuits have been filed in multiple counties challenging Pritzker’s executive orders related to the pandemic as well as recently enacted state laws abolishing cash bail and banning certain high-powered semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
“One attorney was charging people $200 to have their names added as plaintiffs to (a gun ban) lawsuit,” Democratic state Rep. Jay Hoffman said last month in reference to the numerous lawsuits filed by unsuccessful Republican attorney general candidate Thomas DeVore.
Republicans called the measure a power grab by the Democratic majority. Senate Republican Leader John Curran of Downers Grove said in a statement on Tuesday it “is clearly an attempt by the governor and the attorney general to send constitutional challenges to courts that they believe will be more favorable to the Administration.”
“In doing so, they are discrediting judges in suburban and downstate Illinois, and creating geographic barriers to citizens accessing our court system,” Curran said.
State Rep. Dan Caulkins of Decatur, who has sued the state over the sweeping gun ban signed into law in January, voiced similar objections during the floor debate on the bill last month.
“They pass unconstitutional laws to make law-abiding citizens criminals, and then they make those same citizens travel hundreds of miles to a kangaroo court that they control,” Caulkins said of Democrats. “Tyrants are always the same, whether kings or lawless Chicago politicians.”
Hoffman, who is from Swansea, a town in the Metro East area outside St. Louis, noted during the debate that the Circuit Court in Sangamon County is dominated by Republican judges.
The new measure takes effect immediately.
@George-K What do you think of it Geogre? Seems like there are arguments for both sides.
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@George-K What do you think of it Geogre? Seems like there are arguments for both sides.
@taiwan_girl said in Only certain counties can sue:
Seems like there are arguments for both sides.
Yes, though I understand the thinking behind this law, I question the legality of it. Someone who lives in Moline would have to travel 165 miles to file a case in Chicago (a heavily Democratic area). If they wanted to pursue litigation in Sangamon County, it's more than 160 miles.
This seems unreasonable.
It also strikes me as being just a little politically motivated too.
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Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a measure that requires lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of executive orders or state laws to be filed in either Cook or Sangamon county.
The Democratic-controlled state legislature passed the bill along party lines last month. Democrats who supported the legislation said it was necessary to prevent people with a grievance against the state from selecting the county in which to file a lawsuit based on where they think they can get a favorable ruling.
Supporters also said the measure will conserve resources for the attorney general’s office, which represents the state in court. Sangamon County is home to the state capital, Springfield, while Chicago in Cook County is a second base for state government.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawsuits have been filed in multiple counties challenging Pritzker’s executive orders related to the pandemic as well as recently enacted state laws abolishing cash bail and banning certain high-powered semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
“One attorney was charging people $200 to have their names added as plaintiffs to (a gun ban) lawsuit,” Democratic state Rep. Jay Hoffman said last month in reference to the numerous lawsuits filed by unsuccessful Republican attorney general candidate Thomas DeVore.
Republicans called the measure a power grab by the Democratic majority. Senate Republican Leader John Curran of Downers Grove said in a statement on Tuesday it “is clearly an attempt by the governor and the attorney general to send constitutional challenges to courts that they believe will be more favorable to the Administration.”
“In doing so, they are discrediting judges in suburban and downstate Illinois, and creating geographic barriers to citizens accessing our court system,” Curran said.
State Rep. Dan Caulkins of Decatur, who has sued the state over the sweeping gun ban signed into law in January, voiced similar objections during the floor debate on the bill last month.
“They pass unconstitutional laws to make law-abiding citizens criminals, and then they make those same citizens travel hundreds of miles to a kangaroo court that they control,” Caulkins said of Democrats. “Tyrants are always the same, whether kings or lawless Chicago politicians.”
Hoffman, who is from Swansea, a town in the Metro East area outside St. Louis, noted during the debate that the Circuit Court in Sangamon County is dominated by Republican judges.
The new measure takes effect immediately.
@George-K said in Only certain counties can sue:
State Rep. Dan Caulkins of Decatur, who has sued the state over the sweeping gun ban signed into law in January, voiced similar objections during the floor debate on the bill last month.
“They pass unconstitutional laws to make law-abiding citizens criminals, and then they make those same citizens travel hundreds of miles to a kangaroo court that they control,” Caulkins said of Democrats. “Tyrants are always the same, whether kings or lawless Chicago politicians.”
Federal court upholds Illinois gun ban. Going to the Supreme Court I think. Interesting.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-appeals-court-upholds-illinois-assault-weapons-ban-2023-11-04/
A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld an Illinois state ban on assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines enacted after a 2022 mass shooting in Chicago's Highland Park suburb that left seven people dead and dozens more wounded.
In a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a lower-court injunction imposed against the firearms restrictions in one set of cases and affirmed decisions keeping the law intact in another batch.
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@taiwan_girl said in Only certain counties can sue:
Federal court upholds Illinois gun ban. Going to the Supreme Court I think.
Good. Let's start by defining "assault-style weapons."
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The federal appeals court in Chicago put a hold Thursday on a downstate judge’s recent ruling against Illinois’ controversial assault weapons ban — meaning the law will remain in place while the legal controversy it’s generated continues to work its way through the courts.
The order from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is no surprise. Nor was the Nov. 8 ruling from U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn, who found the assault weapons ban unconstitutional.
This is the second time McGlynn moved to block the ban, only to be undone by the appellate court.
The result is that Illinois can continue to enforce the ban while lawyers take their arguments to the 7th Circuit, based in Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Courthouse. A panel of judges there found in 2023 that weapons covered by the law don’t have Second Amendment protection.
