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Quinn loses another elected school board case

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Illinois

* Last month, a state appellate court ruled against former Gov. Pat Quinn’s lawsuit on behalf of an elected Chicago school board. This week, it was the federal appellate court’s turn to turn him down…

In this suit under §2 of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. §10301, plaintiffs (registered voters, some of whom are parents or grandparents of school-age children) contend that this system deprives black and Latino citizens of their right to vote. School boards elsewhere in Illinois are elected; plaintiffs say that failure to elect the school board in Chicago has a disproportionate effect on minority voters. The district court dismissed the complaint. […]

The Voting Rights Act has been on the books for 53 years, and as far as we are aware no court has understood §2 to re- quire that any office be filled by election. Several courts have rejected contentions to that effect. […]

There is a further problem with plaintiffs’ position. Black and Latino citizens do not vote for the school board in Chicago, but neither does anyone else. Every member of the electorate is treated identically […]

Plaintiffs have a second theory: that allowing the Mayor to appoint the Board’s members violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. […]

This equal-protection theory is brought up short by Sail- ors v. Board of Education, 387 U.S. 105 (1967), which holds that appointing a school board is constitutionally permissible, and by Hearne v. Board of Education, 185 F.3d 770 (7th Cir. 1999), which holds that the 1995 Illinois statute is valid not- withstanding the line it draws between Chicago and every other city in Illinois.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 11, 18 @ 9:51 am

Comments

He would have been an awesome AG!

Comment by Spliff Wednesday, Apr 11, 18 @ 9:54 am
Given the quality of the legal arguments that he asserted in this case, maybe it’s a good thing that Pat won’t be the next AG.

Comment by TominChicago Wednesday, Apr 11, 18 @ 9:55 am
He took away the state workers right to collectively bargain, and was the first to withhold our raises way back in 2011. I am retired now and still owed thousands in back pay. Perhaps he has concern for only select groups of people, not all of them. I wish he would just go away.

Comment by Retired Educator Wednesday, Apr 11, 18 @ 10:10 am
God Bless Pat Quinn

Comment by Saluki Wednesday, Apr 11, 18 @ 10:23 am
He’s already run for just about every other office in the state. He really needed a win here to give him another excuse to be out campaigning.

Comment by Whatever Wednesday, Apr 11, 18 @ 11:08 am
Pat Quinn for School Board

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 11, 18 @ 12:13 pm