THE ILLINOIZE: Monday Free for All...Muslim voters in Illinois...Assault weapons ban stays in effect...Madigan involved in "Something Fishy"
December 9, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
We hope you had a great weekend.
This is a Chicago Bears-free zone today. Not going there. Not doin’ it.
The Governor’s office has not released a public schedule for today.
Let’s get to it.
YOUR MONDAY FREE FOR ALL
(note: we’re not responsible for paywalls and restrictions from other news outlets, because good journalism isn’t free)
Muslim voters in Illinois were more dissatisfied with major presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in this election, with Gaza the defining issue (Chicago Tribune)
Longtime Bridgeview resident Itedal Shalabi typically votes Democratic but when the time came to pick a candidate for U.S. president this year, she took a pass.
Shalabi saw both major party choices on the Nov. 5 ballot — Republican Donald Trump and his history of Islamophobic rhetoric and Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris and her ties to a Biden administration many Muslims lost faith in because of its unwavering support of Israel in the war in Gaza — as “seriously flawed,” and said she couldn’t bring herself to support either of them.
“There’s no way in all good conscience, I could have put my head down on a pillow and slept that night if I had voted for Kamala Harris,” Shalabi said. “They let us down — the whole system let us down.”
In Bridgeview — a southwest suburban community called “Little Palestine” because so many Muslims and Palestinians live there — Shalabi reflected a growing trend of Muslim voters who in the 2024 election either didn’t cast a vote for president, wrote in a third-party candidate as a protest vote or reversed course as a majority backed Trump after Joe Biden carried the suburb in 2020.
What happened with Muslim voters in Illinois didn’t affect the overall presidential race as Harris won the state, although by a smaller margin than when Biden or Hillary Clinton defeated Trump in Illinois. But the trends seen here do echo much of what was seen nationally as many Muslims once aghast at Trump’s comments and policies critical of their religion and culture said they supported him this time because they were fed up with Biden’s support of Israel amid the war in Gaza and Harris’ willingness to keep those policies going.
Since winning, however, Trump has proposed adding several individuals to his administration who have spurred a new wave of anxiety and uncertainty about what political choices Muslims have going forward.
Federal appeals court ruling allows Illinois gun ban to remain in place (Chicago Tribune)
A federal appeals court panel in Chicago ruled Thursday that Illinois’ sweeping ban on high-powered guns and high-capacity ammunition magazines can stay in place while the state contests a ruling from a downstate judge who found the law unconstitutional.
It’s the second time the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that the state’s ban on so-called assault weapons can remain on the books as lawyers for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and several gun rights groups battle over the legality of the weapons prohibition, which Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law nearly two years ago.
The 7th Circuit stepped in this time after U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn ruled Nov. 8 that the gun ban violated the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and that it could no longer be enforced after 30 days.
Last year, after McGlynn ruled the law unconstitutional when gun-rights groups sought an injunction to temporarily block enforcement of the ban, the 7th Circuit also delayed implementing the judge’s ruling before the panel several months later ultimately sided with the state.
“While we are glad that Federal District Court Judge Stephen McGlynn’s stay would have expired on Sunday, December 8th, we are disappointed — but not surprised — that the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has extended that stay,” one of the gun-rights groups involved in the litigation, the Illinois State Rifle Association, said in a statement. “Back in November, we were victorious when Judge McGlynn found the provisions of the Illinois ban on commonly owned firearms and accessories…to be unconstitutional. The State appealed immediately to the Seventh Circuit, so we also know that this battle is far from over.”
In his own statement, Raoul praised the 7th Circuit’s decision, saying the weapons ban “is an important tool to prevent weapons of war from being used in our schools and on our streets, and I am committed to defending its constitutionality.”
The case, which could eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, is now at the stage for the 7th Circuit to consider the ban’s constitutionality and whether it should permanently remain state law.
The gun ban prohibits, among other things, the delivery, sale, import and purchase of more than 100 high-powered guns, including semiautomatic rifles, shotguns and handguns.
Related: Downstate judge's effort to shoot down Illinois' assault weapon ban put on hold pending appeal (Chicago Sun-Times)
‘There’s something fishy here, don’t you think?’: Wiretapped calls detail Madigan confidant’s confoundment over complicated land deal (Capitol News Illinois)
It was the last day of the General Assembly’s spring legislative session in 2018 when veteran Statehouse lobbyist Mike McClain realized his bill wasn’t going anywhere.
McClain was officially retired but still took on “assignments” from his longtime friend Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. But one particular project he took on proved especially difficult.
In the fall of 2017, he began working with then-Chicago Ald. Danny Solis on what was supposed to be a relatively simple legislative maneuver to transfer state-owned land to the city of Chicago.
For years, the state had leased the land out to a company that operated it as a parking lot in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood. Solis wanted the state to transfer the parcel to the city, which would then sell it to a real estate developer interested in building a mixed-use apartment complex. That sliver of Chinatown was in Solis’ 25th Ward.
When Solis met with McClain about the proposal in late 2017, Solis agreed with McClain’s characterization that it was a “legacy” project after the alderman revealed he may not run for city council again in 2019 after two decades on the city council.
McClain also recruited Nancy Kimme, a relatively new lobbyist, to work with then-Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration on the effort. Kimme spent years in GOP circles and served as chief of staff to the late Judy Baar Topinka when Topinka was both comptroller and state treasurer. McClain also involved Kimme to reduce the risk of upsetting the deal if Rauner – Madigan’s political nemesis – found out the speaker had any ties to the project.
But the team of statehouse veterans couldn’t get the routine land transfer done, even after six months of work. They were confounded by how the deal had become such a boondoggle. Even six years later, Kimme still expressed a bit of that bewilderment Thursday as she testified about the yearlong effort in Madigan’s federal corruption trial.
Kimme’s appearance on the witness stand came at the conclusion of the seventh week of testimony in the trial. McClain was indicted alongside Madigan in the case that extends to allegations of bribery involving McClain’s biggest client, electric utility Commonwealth Edison, and AT&T Illinois. Madigan and McClain are accused of running a “criminal enterprise” benefiting the speaker and his inner circle – the basis of racketeering charges against them.
Kimme and McClain had relied on Solis’ assurances that state Rep. Theresa Mah, who represented Chinatown, supported the project. But when Kimme finally approached her in mid-May 2018, she said she was opposed.
“She’s like, ‘This is a scam cooked up by Danny Solis. You know, people in my district don’t like him,’” Kimme told McClain, relaying the meeting in a May 16, 2018, phone call. “They’re trying to gentrify Chinatown and take away its identity and put some big high-rise up in the middle.”
Related: Judge compels testimony from ex-state Rep. Eddie Acevedo in Madigan's corruption trial (Chicago Sun-Times)
Jurors hear Madigan ally McClain puzzling over political squabble hobbling Chinatown project: ‘There’s something fishy here’ (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: Michael Madigan’s trial brings echoes of Boss Daley and his kids (Chicago Tribune)
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