* Facebook video from Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) a week ago…

Big announcement today. We’re going to sue in Macon Countyover this unconstitutional gun grab. If you want to be a part of our group, send your information to me, Dan at Dan caulkins.com. Now, there’s no charge for this, but we certainly would appreciate a donation from everybody to help defray our legal expenses. So, if you can help us out, we’d like to have a $200 donation. You can send it to me here at the office or you can take it down to the Bullet Trap. All funds will be used to pay for our legal expenses. Anything left over will be used to help defend our Second Amendment rights. So, we’re gonna file this on Thursday. So if you want to be a part of the Macon County lawsuit, now’s the time.

Rep. Caulkins allegedly asked people to send the money to his campaign account.

* Today’s press release from Tom DeVore…

Today we entered our appearance on behalf of several citizens of the State of Illinois in the firearms lawsuit filed by State Representative Dan Caulkins in Macon County, IL. The filing is attached to this press release and speaks for itself. My clients asked me to protect them from any risks now associated with being solicited by State Representative Dan Caulkins to join his lawsuit. While only one of them submitted a financial donation to Representative Caulkins political campaign account, at his direct request for alleged legal defense expenses, she is hopeful the transaction will not be finalized, and her money returned.

My clients were led to believe each would be allowed to join the lawsuit as party plaintiffs and none of them were aware that financial donations being solicited were not payments being made directly to an attorney, but actually being deposited into the political campaign account of Representative Caulkins. Without any knowledge or consent of my clients, Caulkins lawyers failed to join them as plaintiffs, as each was led to believe by Caulkins would be the case, and instead learned only after the case was filed that they were now going to be members of a nonexistent entity characterized as an association which none of them had ever heard of or ever agreed to become a member.

Sadly, whether intentional or otherwise, several hundred citizens of the State of Illinois, in their efforts to obtain individual legal representation for themselves, are likely going to be required to find other avenues to assert their rights. It is never appropriate for non-lawyer politicians to engage directly, or as intermediaries, in the solicitation of clients in need of legal representation to seemingly further their own political or pecuniary benefit. They should consider sticking with the legislative process and leave the judicial process to the legal professionals. I am confident that my client who did in fact initiate a financial contribution to Caulkins political campaign account will receive her funds back, and I am hopeful that anyone else who’s similarly situated does as well.

* From DeVore’s legal filing…

As a result of Caulkins Facebook video, Lyons requested to join the lawsuit on January 24, 2023.

On January 25, 2023 at 7:54 A.M., Caulkins responded to Lyons and affirmed she had joined the lawsuit and sought a financial donation to his political campaign account.

Lyons did in fact click the link [https://www.dancaulkins.com/donate] and make a contribution to Caulkins campaign in the amount of $50 but as of yet is has not cleared her bank account.

On January 23, 2023 at 3:46 P.M., Martz responded to Caulkins and provided his Name, Address and phone number.

After Martz continually tried to determine if he was accepted as a client, Caulkins replied to Martz to be patient as they were checking e-mails with the lawyers.

At this point, Martz has no ability to know if he has been added to this alleged list of members or not. […]

Caulkins has admitted payments received as a result of his solicitation of clients to join his lawsuit have all, or in part, been deposited into his political campaign account. […]

It is clear from reading Caulkins legal jargon that he, and other unknown persons, decided to arbitrarily create this fiction of an unincorporated association merely due to the fact that hundreds of citizens responded to his solicitation to “join a lawsuit” and the resources it takes to onboard all these clients was likely overwhelming which is evidenced by Caulkins statement that an updated list of alleged members is forthcoming after e-mails are sorted out.

There is no recognized jurisprudence which holds Movants who merely desired to join a lawsuit, after being solicited by Caulkins, were assenting to becoming members to the Law- Abiding Gun Owners of Macon County for which they had never heard about.

This associational fiction, which Caulkins only advised the Movants of after the lawsuit was filed, is nothing more than a poorly devised and otherwise unlawful legal strategy to get around having to provide proper and adequate legal representation to the Movants, and those similarly situated, which is what each was lad to believe they were going to be provided

There are no by-laws, no constitution, no applications for membership, no membership dues, nothing available to characterize such action of Movants as an assent on the part of any of them to become a member of any association.

The law does not allow this fiction which Caulkins attempts to present to the Court through his attorneys as such would be a workaround to joinder and class action jurisprudence under Illinois law.

This Court will assuredly, at what will be the request of the Defendants, dismiss this alleged association for failing in all aspect to have standing as a lawful entity, but Movants are merely asking this Court to enjoin Caulkins, and the attorneys of record, from adducing their names on any list as alleged members of this association and further enjoining Stocks and Eck from seeking payment for legal fees from them as alleged members of this association.

WHEREFORE, Movants, herein request that this court enter an Order: […]

Finding under the facts presented herein, Dan Caulkins, or the attorneys of record are enjoined from submitting any list of members of the alleged unincorporated association which list would include any of the movants;

Enter an injunction enjoining Dan Caulkins to return any payments made by Movants back
to them instanter;

Enter an injunction enjoining the Stocks and Eck from seeking payment for services from Movants which may be incurred in counsels representation of the alleged association