THE ILLINOIZE: SAFE-T Act day in court...Should O'Brien and Rochford recuse?...Businessman Estrada to run in 17th congressional
March 14, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
I goofed yesterday when I told you the House was out this week. Nobody’s perfect, even me. But I’m darn close.
The House is in today at noon. The Senate is out. Governor Pritzker is at Heartland Community College in Normal at 11:30 to sell his budget plan. The Supreme Court gavels in at 9. More on that below.
Let’s get to it.
SUPREME COURT TAKES UP SAFE-T ACT
Two State’s Attorneys will argue before the Illinois Supreme Court this morning that justices should rule the controversial cash-bail elimination provision of the so-called SAFE-T Act is unconstitutional.
Kankakee County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe and Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow, both Democrats, challenged the law in court last fall. In December, a Kankakee County judge ruled parts of the law are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court put a stay on the law on New Year’s Eve the day before the law was set to take place.
There are three specific provisions in the constitution the circuit court says the state is required to use a monetary bail system: the bail clause, the crime victim’s rights amendment passed in 2014, and the separation of powers clause.
In the plaintiff’s brief filed with the court last month, argued the General Assembly infringed on the constitutional rights of the judiciary.
“The General Assembly has unduly encroached upon a court's inherent powers by divesting the judiciary of its discretion to consider all the available tools provided under the constitution to balance a defendant's liberty interest with the societal interests of ensuring a defendant's appearance in court and protecting the public,” Glasgow wrote.
In his brief, Deputy Solicitor General Alex Hemmer disagreed.
“The circuit court’s separation-of-powers holding is badly flawed. The court misapplied this Court’s precedent, stating that the General Assembly is “prohibited” from legislating in areas in which courts have inherent authority,” he wrote. “In the end, plaintiffs’ view appears to be that the legislature simply has no serious role to play in regulating pretrial criminal procedure. But that position cannot be reconciled with Hemingway or history.”
Justices will likely focus on the bail definition and the idea that the legislature has the right to encroach on the actions of the judicial branch, known as separation of powers.
“Plaintiffs’ response brief identifies no persuasive reason to affirm the circuit court’s sweeping decision striking down the pretrial release provisions,” he wrote. “The court reasoned that three separate provisions of the Illinois Constitution independently require the State to maintain a system of monetary bail, and that only courts—not the Illinois General Assembly—can regulate the conditions under which criminal defendants may be detained pending trial. Those unprecedented holdings are incorrect, and would effectively bar the General Assembly from ever reforming pretrial procedures in the State.”
Rowe did not return a message from The Illinoize Monday to discuss the case.
Also Monday, Governor JB Pritzker took an antagonist tone when asked about the case (and challenges to the state’s assault weapons ban).
“It’s the last refuge of those who can’t win at the ballot box to take something to court to try to have it overturned, even though they are wrong when they say its unconstitutional,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Monday. “I think the Supreme Court will give it a fair hearing, but I can tell you that all of the lawyers and people who were involved in crafting the legislation feel confident that it will come out the right way.”
If you subscribe (and you should), BlueroomStream will be streaming the hearing this morning.
SHOULD O’BRIEN AND ROCHFORD RECUSE THEMSELVES?
Some right wing media outlets been pushing a narrative in recent weeks that new Democratic justices Mary K. O’Brien and Elizabeth Rochford should recuse themselves from cases involving Governor JB Pritzker.
They argue because Pritzker donated $1 million to each of their campaigns they can’t be impartial to cases involving the Governor.
There are no provisions in the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct, though, that require recusal based on campaign contributions. Having worked a few judicial campaigns, I can attest to the firewall that is kept between a candidate and their campaign committee. Though they'd have to be living under a rock not to know about the donations.
But others have pointed to Supreme Court case Caperton v. Massey, which essentially ruled a judge who had received significant campaign contributions from a business owner was required to recuse himself.
“It has been the longstanding tradition of the Illinois Supreme Court that recusal decisions are left up to the individual justice,” courts spokesperson Chris Bonjean said yesterday. “The Chief Justice cannot require their recusal.”
It isn’t clear whether plaintiffs in the case will somehow seek O’Brien and Rochford’s recusal, or even if they’re able to do so in the Supreme Court.
Democrats hold a 5-2 majority on the court, so they would retain a slim majority even if both O’Brien and Rochford recused themselves.
SORENSEN CHALLENGER EMERGES
Multiple sources have told The Illinoize that Galesburg businessman and philanthropist Rafael “Ray” Estrada will launch a challenge to freshman Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Moline).
We told you last week that Republicans were having a difficult time fielding a top tier candidate to face Sorensen, who was placed on a target list by the National Republican Campaign Committee yesterday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy personally called Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia) in an effort to recruit him in the race, but Anderson declined. Esther Joy King, who lost races to Cheri Bustos in 2020 and Sorensen in 2022 says she won’t be running again either.
Enter Estrada, who came to the country from Nicaragua in 1979 at age 12.
Estrada is a businessman who runs the Estrada Global Foundation and has been noted for providing humanitarian aid to his home country during a 2018 civil war and has been praised for providing over 500,000 free meals in western Illinois.
Little is publicly available about Estrada’s business interests, other than to say he has had a successful national and international business career in finance, real estate, and business management.
Multiple sources say Estrada has scheduled his announcement for April 15.
In a short phone call Monday, Estrada said he would call us back and did not.
The Sorensen campaign did not return a message seeking comment.
JOIN US