THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Latest gun case leaves unanswered questions...One year since the Madigan indictment...Pritzker vs. Walgreens
March 6, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
Governor Pritzker was on another of his “I’m not running for president…yet” tours this weekend, including a hit on Face the Nation yesterday.
Every time he does one of these I ask myself “what do they know that we don’t?” Time will tell, I suppose.
It will be a busy week in Springfield with committee deadlines in the House and Senate. They return tomorrow at noon and are scheduled to be in through Friday. Gov. Pritzker does not have anything on his public schedule.
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YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Downstate judge strikes down Illinois ban on high-powered guns (Chicago Tribune)
A downstate judge on Friday struck down the ban on high-power firearms and high-capacity ammunition magazines that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law earlier this year, a ruling the Illinois attorney general’s office immediately appealed to the state Supreme Court.
The scope of the ruling was a subject of dispute, with the attorney for the state lawmaker who was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit arguing that it applies statewide and Pritzker’s office contending it does not.
“We expected political grandstanding from those more beholden to the gun lobby than to the safety of their constituents and today’s ruling comes as no surprise,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said in a statement, adding that “the governor is confident” the law ultimately will be held constitutional.
Macon County Judge Rodney Forbes wrote in a two-page ruling that the ban, passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature in response to the mass shooting at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade, violates the equal protection and special legislation clauses of the Illinois Constitution.
The ruling in some ways mirrors earlier circuit and appellate court rulings that temporarily lifted the ban for hundreds of plaintiffs in legal challenges brought by unsuccessful Republican attorney general candidate Thomas DeVore.
An attorney for GOP state Rep. Dan Caulkins of Decatur, lead plaintiff in the Macon County lawsuit, said in a statement that Friday’s ruling applies more broadly.
Under “well-established Illinois authority” the ruling means the ban “is void, as if the law never existed, and is unenforceable in its entirety, in all applications,” Decatur attorney Jerrold Stocks said.
Caulkins’ lawsuit, which names Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul, among others, as defendants, alleges the ban violates a state constitutional provision that guarantees “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor be denied the equal protection of the laws.”
Looking into the question about whether the ruling applies statewide or not. I’ll try to have that in the newsletter tomorrow.
This is your reminder that the real action on this case is going to be decided in federal court, not in Macon County.
Related: Founding fathers didn’t own AR-15s or large capacity magazines, Pritzker and Raoul argue in defense of ban (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Taking aim at gun safety in Illinois invites tragedy (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Dialogue can be a vehicle for change when it comes to gun violence (Rockford Register Star)
One year after Madigan’s indictment, former speaker’s allies prepare for trial (Capitol News Illinois)
One year ago [last week], former House Speaker Michael Madigan – for decades the most powerful figure in Illinois politics – was indicted on 22 counts of racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and extortion.
The anniversary comes roughly two years after Madigan’s fellow Democrats forced him to cede the title of longest-serving speaker of any legislature in U.S. history. His ouster in January 2021 was followed by his resignation from both the House seat he’d held since 1971 and as chair of the state Democratic Party he’d molded in order to further consolidate power.
And a little over a year from now, Madigan is scheduled to stand trial in a case that federal prosecutors have been building for the better part of a decade. Along the way, the wide-ranging probes of Madigan and his associates have nabbed more than a dozen other Democratic politicians, lobbyists and business executives, upending Chicago and Illinois politics.
Madigan’s political vulnerabilities began in earnest a little over five years ago, when former political staffer Alaina Hampton alleged Madigan’s organization did nothing to stop repeated sexual harassment from an older, married colleague.
Since around the time Hampton went public with her allegations in early 2018, former speaker has spent more than $10 million in legal fees, mostly out of his personal campaign fund. But even in the two years since mostly stepping away from politics, both of Madigan’s committees have kept paying a handful of staffers, plus bills and rent for office space in his longtime home base at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood.
Money keeps flowing in and out of Madigan’s campaign coffers, with transfers in from sources including trade unions long loyal to the former speaker, and payments out for items as ordinary as office supplies, as vague as “services” and intriguing as “gifts” from a home décor store in the upscale north suburb of Glenview. In the fourth quarter of last year, the 13th Ward Democratic Org spent more than $2,100 on ice, according to publicly available campaign finance records.
If we hadn’t already put a couple of governors on trial this century, this would be the trial of the century.
Walgreens’ abortion pill decision sparks Pritzker meeting with CEO, protesters’ demands ‘they follow the law’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
Deerfield-based Walgreens says it will not sell abortion pills in states in which Republican attorneys general have threatened legal action — despite the drug being legal in some of those states.
The decision prompted condemnation from Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who met with Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer about it Friday, and a demonstration outside the pharmacy’s West Loop offices accusing the company of surrendering “to the demands of the right wing-Christian fascist attorneys general.”
After meeting with Brewer, Pritzker’s office said the governor “expressed his deep concern about their position and urged them to rethink their stance.”
The governor also said he would help Walgreens become certified to provide abortion medication in Illinois and in states that have not already outlawed abortion medication.
Walgreens made the policy change after 20 Republican attorneys general wrote the pharmacy a letter threatening legal action if the drug was distributed in their states.
In Chicago, a group of abortion rights advocates gathered outside Walgreens’ offices at the Old Post Office on Friday afternoon to speak out about the company’s decision, calling it an “outrageous” and “dangerous” precedent.
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
Pritzker touts $70 million plan for addressing teacher shortage (Capitol News Illinois)
How Democrats can win more 'Waffle House' districts, from a congresswoman who did (Decatur Herald & Review) BONUS: Nikki Budzinski’s Waffle House order.
A life in Congress: Lauren Underwood learns what it costs (Washington Post)
Mendoza pushes for law requiring greater deposits in ‘rainy day’ fund (Capitol News Illinois)
Did suburbs get their fair share of state's park improvement grants? (Daily Herald)
Bill seeks to enforce federal anti-discrimination standards in state law (Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois has a new weed rival: Missouri (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Nearly half of Chicago voters didn’t choose Brandon Johnson or Paul Vallas Tuesday. Winning them over could be key in April. (Chicago Tribune)
Former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White endorses Vallas for mayor (Chicago Sun-Times)
Here are five takeaways from Chicago’s municipal election (WBEZ)
How the CTU marched from picket lines to political powerhouse (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Get Ready For the Runoff (Chicago Magazine)
Catanzara wins second term as FOP president (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: Some, but not all, bills increase worker protections (Shaw Media)
Cabello: Police and firefighters need support and resources to keep us safe (Rockford Register Star)
SOME TOP LINKS FROM LAST WEEK
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