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Afternoon roundup

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* This decision is not a suprise. At all..


This case includes @DarrenBaileyIL, @BlaineWilhour and @adamniemerg. After pledging during floor debate not to follow the ban, they are among a handful of people with an exemption until an appellate judge or Illinois Supreme Court rules otherwise #twill https://t.co/oWHftOsjcs

— Ben Szalinski (@BenSzalinski) February 2, 2023

Also not a surprise, Darren Bailey urged his followers today to pay $200 and sign up for DeVore’s third lawsuit. The TRO is here.

…Adding… From Attorney General Kwame Raoul…

“Over the last few years, my office has become accustomed to facing a barrage of challenges to newly-enacted state statutes and executive orders. The Protect Illinois Communities Act is an important tool in our fight to protect Illinois residents from gun violence, and as with past matters, we recognize that the act’s constitutionality will ultimately be decided by a higher court. We are reviewing the circuit court’s decision and continue to review the 5th District’s decision. We will seek the Illinois Supreme Court’s review of challenges to the Protect Illinois Communities Act, and we will ask the court for an expedited schedule.”

* From End Citizens United…

Hi Rich,

Hope you’re doing well. Reaching out from End Citizens United. Saw your coverage of the letter we sent to Rep. Mary Miller calling on her to donate the money she received from George Santos. Wanted to flag for you that it appears Rep. Miller showed no sign of disbursing her Santos money in the most recent FEC filings she submitted this week.

All the best,
Arik Wolk

* Press release…

The Justice Department announced today that the village of Hinsdale, Illinois, has agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that the village violated the Fair Housing Act when it refused to allow the operation of a sober living home for persons in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction in a residential neighborhood.

The settlement, which still must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, resolves a lawsuit that the Department filed in November 2020. This settlement also resolves a related suit brought by the sober living home’s owner and operator, Trinity Sober Living LLC.

“Individuals with disabilities – including those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction – should not be excluded from living in residential neighborhoods,” said John R. Lausch Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “Such discrimination by local governments is forbidden under the Fair Housing Act.”

“Local governments do not have the right to use zoning laws and restrictions as a vehicle to discriminate against people with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to vigorous enforcement of federal law to ensure that individuals in recovery have access to the housing and support they need to maintain their sobriety and lead productive lives.”

The Department’s lawsuit alleged that the village of Hinsdale violated the Fair Housing Act after it denied a reasonable accommodation request by Trinity Sober Living LLC to operate a sober living home with ten residents and a house manager in a residential neighborhood. The complaint alleged that, one day after Trinity requested an accommodation, the village sued Trinity in state court for violations of the zoning code, including that the home was a “commercial use” and would have more than three unrelated adults.

Under the settlement, the village will amend its zoning ordinance to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws, including permitting homes for persons with disabilities in residential districts, with the same size limitations applied to families of similar size, and implementing a reasonable accommodation policy. The village will also pay $790,000 in monetary damages to Trinity as well as a civil penalty of $10,000 to the United States. The village also agreed to take a number of other actions to guard against housing discrimination, including training village officials and employees about their obligations under federal law, designating a fair housing compliance officer and reporting periodically to the Justice Department.

* Rockford Register Star

Neighbors of the city’s new abortion clinic at 611 Auburn St. have filed a lawsuit in Winnebago County Court claiming the clinic is improperly zoned and that the clinic’s operation is negatively impacting the neighborhood. […]

The suit says the Rockford Zoning Board of Appeals “abdicated their solemn duty to enforce the City of Rockford Zoning Ordinance” by allowing a medical clinic to operate as a home business and allowing the clinic’s operator to live elsewhere.

The lawsuit also claims that the controversial nature of the business has caused disruption to the neighborhood, attracting protesters, traffic and noise.

* Paul Vallas education plan highlights

• Opening schools well into the evening, weekend and holidays to provide academic support, recreational activities and community-based services
• Creating paid High School Work Study programs in place of non-essential electives to build the competence, confidence and life skills
• Expanding the Alternative Schools network and opening Adult High Schools to reclaim the thousands of students who left during the pandemic.
• Empowering and trusting local communities through elected Local School Councils and redirecting funds there instead of the Central Administration
• Systematically identifying at-risk students and providing early intervention and support
• Expanding quality school options by converting failing or under-enrolled schools into magnet schools or other models directed by the local community

* Update on recent story…


Christian Mitchell, Illinois deputy governor, has been named the next vice president for civic engagement. In his new role, Mitchell will work to foster deep partnerships across the University and South Side communities. https://t.co/sDSXSIuWAE

— The University of Chicago (@UChicago) February 2, 2023

* Isabel’s roundup…

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 2:26 pm

Comments

  1. Is Bailey shilling for Tom DeVore’s next lawsuit? Will Bailey get a taste?

    Comment by Rudy’s teeth Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 2:46 pm

  2. == SJR removes … ==

    Yet another step in the long decline of the SJR. It’s barely USA Today lite. Helen Copley would barely recognize it.

    Comment by RNUG Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:02 pm

  3. Wait,

    I thought Politico said Christian was headed to the Presidential campaign? /s

    Comment by SpiDem Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:22 pm

  4. RNUG, I am not so sure. I have visited a lot of news sites (newspapers, television stations, etc.), and the vast majority of comments tend to be hateful. If I were responsible for monitoring such comment sections, I think I would be overwhelmed with the number of comments I would want to remove, and would probably be fired as some point for refusing to allow incivility and hate speech.

    Comment by H-W Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:22 pm

  5. == Yet another step in the long decline of the SJR.==

    Copley Newspapers once had a broad presence in Illinois and I like to think her husband, James Copley, might be more dismayed by the SJR’s decline. Helen? Not so much. And their late adopted son, David, not at all.

    Comment by jackmac Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:24 pm

  6. “Police recruits now required to take wrongful conviction course” This is good news, so props to the ILESTB. It should have been done 40 years ago, but better late than never. The old cops teach the new cops their dirty tricks, that’s how the corrupt culture is passed down from generation to generation, like fraternity hazing.

    Personally I would bring a team of lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s office into the police recruit classrooms, and tell them we will prosecute you if you break the law. Scared straight for cops.

    Comment by Payback Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:31 pm

  7. Christian to academia? A perfect place to chill out and take a break from the stress of being bad cop in the gov’s office these past four years. Doesn’t seem to be a path to a future political campaign or to riches in the private sector but he’s probably not taking too big of a pay cut and gets to dip his toe in a wide variety of pools. Vaya con dios.

    Comment by Good fit Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:35 pm

  8. =…due to changes in staffing and the time investment necessary to bring you a safe, moderated and productive discussion space. We’re not willing to risk discussions veering off track or people being verbally attacked.=

    Rich, maybe you could take a couple days off, go over to SJ-R and show them how it’s done. Those don’t seem to be issues here, and you’ve got many hundreds more comments a day than their publication along with the most diverse and opinionated commentariat in the state. Far as we know, you’re moderating this whole site pretty much single-handedly (Or is Isabel the real enforcer here?)

    Comment by Dysfunction Junction Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:53 pm

  9. Vallas’s plan is … actually not bad. I was expecting private school vouchers, so this is actually not bad at all. And a concentration on those not going to college (the majority!) is well overdue.

    Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 3:54 pm

  10. @ Good fit -

    The previous VP for Civic Engagement at UChicago had an annual salary over $700,000. I don’t think Christian is going to go hungry.

    Comment by JoanP Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 4:09 pm

  11. Well, we can thank the Supreme Court for the pandora’s box they opened with their gun ruling. Now, apparently, those under domestic violence orders are just fine and dandy to have guns. I would hope that the gun rights folks would at least acknowledge that this sort of thing is just crazy.

    https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/politics/domestic-violence-guns-fifth-circuit/index.html

    Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 4:20 pm

  12. Wonder if Greg Bishop is part of DeVore’s lawsuit. He’s such an advocate for DeVore.

    Comment by Club J Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 4:23 pm

  13. I’m related to Williams Jennings Bryan. This decision by Ken Griffen to rewrite history is just another example of woke decision making by billionaires to rewrite history. This is causing me endless angst. Can I sue under Florida law? I contacted Tom Devores office and he said he’d take the case for $245. I called Dan Caulkens and he said he’d class action it for $150. Darren Bailey couldn’t talk because he was cashing his federal farm subsidy checks. Will keep everyone posted

    Comment by Stormsw7706 Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 4:26 pm

  14. hey Demoralized — so I see some of the same historical cites Kwame likes to use, just got shot down in that opinion.

    Wanna bet how long the gun ban hangs around? Of the FOID card? tick toc. . .

    Comment by Todd Thursday, Feb 2, 23 @ 4:55 pm

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