Latest news with #IllinoisConstitution
Chicago Tribune
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
County prosecutors' union bid should get tossed out, judge finds
A decades-old Illinois Supreme Court decision bars Cook County prosecutors from unionizing, an administrative law judge for the state's labor board found Wednesday. A bid from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 700 to represent nearly 700 assistant state's attorneys should therefore get tossed out, the judge, Michelle N. Owen, found. 'The petition is clearly inappropriate,' she wrote. Earlier this year, county prosecutors launched the first major union drive the office had seen in decades, saying they were seeking parity with Cook County public defenders, who have been unionized since the 1980s. The Teamsters said they believed the legal winds had changed since the 1995 state Supreme Court decision that found prosecutors were 'managerial' employees barred from union membership. The union argued the state's Workers' Rights Amendment, which since 2022 has enshrined the 'fundamental right' to collective bargaining in the Illinois Constitution, should pave the way for a prosecutors' union. But in her order, Owen found that the labor board lacked jurisdiction to determine whether state law should be preempted by the relatively new constitutional amendment. Matt McGrath, a spokesperson for the state's attorney's office, said the office was 'pleased' with the order. 'Our position all along has been that this is a well-established legal matter that requires a legislative solution, and the (labor board) agreed,' McGrath said in a statement. 'State's Attorney (Eileen O'Neill) Burke supports organized labor and the right of workers to collectively bargain, but as the county's chief law enforcement official and former judge, she will always follow the law first and foremost.' The labor board judge also wrote that the Teamsters had failed to demonstrate that a majority of the prosecutors had signed union cards, though the union had previously claimed to have secured support from a majority of the ASAs. Pasquale Gianni, director of government affairs for the Illinois Teamsters, said the union still believed it had filed its petition with more than 51% support and that it was not sure how the labor board had reached that determination. The union can appeal the order. Gianni declined to say definitively whether or not the Teamsters would do so, but said in a statement the union was 'charting our new direction forward.' 'Obviously, we are disappointed with the decision, which amounts to the disenfranchisement of working people who wish to be represented by a union. It is our intention to leave no stone unturned to achieve that end,' he said. The union has soured on its relationship with O'Neill Burke, whom Local 700 endorsed, since she took office. While she was on the campaign trail, the Teamsters have said, the union secured a promise from O'Neill Burke that, if elected, she would recognize a prosecutors' union if a majority of her staff wanted one. Before filing a petition for union representation earlier this year, the Teamsters asked for that voluntary recognition. O'Neill Burke didn't provide it, after which the union filed a petition with the state labor board. The Teamsters — including the union's general president, Sean O'Brien, who at a May rally in Chicago said the union had gathered to give O'Neill Burke 'a dose of truth-cillin' — have accused the state's attorney of reneging on a promise. O'Neill Burke's office has maintained throughout the union push that she supports the right of ASA's to unionize 'once Illinois law allows for it.'
Chicago Tribune
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Bipartisan group launches latest effort to remove partisanship from how Illinois legislative boundaries are drawn
For the third time in little more than a decade, a bipartisan group is being formed to launch a voter initiative aimed at amending the Illinois Constitution to try to remove the heavy partisan influence of lawmakers in the once-per-decade redrawing of state legislative boundaries. Unlike the current controversy in Texas, where Republicans are looking to redraw congressional boundaries to maximize GOP seats in the U.S. House for the 2026 midterm elections, the Illinois effort is aimed solely at Illinois House and state Senate boundaries. And unlike two earlier efforts, in 2014 and 2016, that were struck down by the courts, the current proposal is more streamlined and designed to fit through the very narrow window that previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings have left for a constitutional amendment by citizens' petition to appear on the ballot. The formal unveiling of the effort is set for Aug. 19, when the Lincoln Forum and the Union League Club of Chicago will host a discussion with the movement's leaders, former White House chief of staff William Daley and former congressman and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the co-chairs of Fair Maps Illinois. Daley is a longtime Democrat who is the brother and son of Chicago's two longest-serving mayors, while LaHood was a Republican congressman from Peoria who served in President Barack Obama's cabinet. He's the father of current GOP U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood. Co-counsels for the effort are veteran election attorney Michael Dorf, a former general counsel for the state Democratic Party, and former GOP state election board member and chairman William Cadigan. The latest effort comes as the current process for redrawing Illinois House and Senate boundaries has received serious scrutiny and follows years of criticism after its adoption as part of the state's 1970 Constitution. Its reliance on the legislature to formulate and adopt a map has been described as lawmakers choosing their voters rather than voters selecting their representatives in Springfield, resulting in sharp, partisan gerrymandered lines that have produced few contested general election contests as primaries have become the de facto elections. 'We are in such a situation now, partly because of the way things are redistricted, where every seat is safe, members don't have to ever attempt to reach a constituency other than their core supporters,' Dorf told the Tribune. 'This is the first step to finding a way to create, not politics-free redistricting, but at least more rational redistricting where there is a chance that members of the General Assembly will have to talk to the other side, will have to reach constituents who don't necessarily agree 100% with them, and it's a first step,' he said. Under one-party rule in the last two redistricting years of 2011 and 2021, Democratic majorities in the House and Senate passed and sent to Democratic Govs. Pat Quinn and JB Pritzker map lines designed to favor the election of Democratic candidates and reduce Republican representation. As a first-time candidate for governor, Pritzker said he supported an independent mapmaking commission to curb partisan gerrymandering, but he signed the 2021 remap passed by Democrats. Last week at an unrelated news conference, the governor said he was still in favor of a commission but said, 'It's not like I can force the legislature to do something like that.' The current map adopted after the 2020 federal census has led to the election of overwhelming Democratic legislative majorities — 78 in the 118-member House and 40 state senators in the 59-member chamber. Under the state constitution, when the legislature and governor are unable to implement a map into law — which has occurred during periods of partisanly divided governance — an eight-member redistricting commission is formed with the four legislative leaders each naming a member of their caucus and a non-member of the General Assembly. If the commission deadlocks, the Supreme Court submits two names, and the Secretary of State conducts a random draw for the crucial ninth partisan tiebreaking member. The state constitution's authors thought the threat of a random draw would be so severe it would force Democrats and Republicans to compromise. But the winner-takes-all aspect of redistricting has proven too strong. Other than the initial 1971 map, commissions went to tiebreakers in 1981, 1991 and 2001. Democrats won the draw in 1981 and 2001, while Republicans won it in 1991. Under the latest commission proposal, the legislature would no longer be able to approve its own map and send it to the governor. Instead, the mapmaking process would go directly to a 12-member commission with the four legislative leaders each appointing one member of their caucus and two non-members of the General Assembly. If the commission were to deadlock, the same tiebreaking drawing method would be used, according to the proposal. But unlike the way maps are currently drawn, commissioners could not consider voters' past voting history in which they vote in Republican or Democratic primaries in configuring the map lines. 'Specific people' also could not be considered, except to adhere to federal laws, such as Voting Rights Act protections for racial and ethnic groups. Instead, districts would be based more on geographic lines in which an emphasis would be placed on compactness. According to the proposal, county, municipal and township boundaries would be followed to the 'greatest extent possible,' with an emphasis on smaller counties being contained in a single district. The state Supreme Court has previously limited citizen-initiated changes to the state Constitution to issues that both affect the structure and procedure of the legislature. To comply with that restriction, the size of the General Assembly would be determined by a formula that divides the state's federal census population by 215,000 and would reduce the result to the nearest odd whole number. As is currently the case, each state Senate district's boundaries would include two House districts. Under the state's 2020 census, the formula would leave the current number of 59 state Senate districts and 118 House districts — but the size of the two chambers could change in future decades based on population changes. To get on the ballot, the proposition would need at least 328,171 valid signatures from registered voters by May 2026. Traditionally, supporters try to seek double the minimum number of signatures. The previous attempts to change the Constitution's redistricting provisions were cumbersome and involved a multi-step process to choose commission members — factors the courts decided went beyond the limited scope of structural and procedural changes in the legislative process. Those rulings also came in court challenges mounted by allies of former Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan, who served as speaker from 1983 to 2021, fiercely opposed efforts that would have taken the power of drawing the districts out of his hands. He was sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison in June on federal corruption charges related to a scheme that helped utility giant Commonwealth Edison. Demonstrating Madigan's close relationship with the utility, the plaintiffs recruited to fight the redistricting proposals in court were Frank Clark, former president and CEO of ComEd, in 2014 and John Hooker, the company's executive vice president of legislative and external affairs and later a lobbyist, in 2016. Hooker was among the 'ComEd Four' who were convicted of conspiring to bribe Madigan to ensure his support for utility initiatives. Hooker was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a $500,000 fine. .
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Dixon man seeking to have 67-year prison sentence reduced in child sex assault, abuse case
May 21—DIXON — A Dixon man sentenced to almost 70 years in prison three months ago for sex-related crimes against a victim younger than 13 said his sentence is excessive and is asking that it be reduced. Jason E. Johnson, 52, pleaded guilty in September to one count each of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Lee County Judge Theresa Friel-Draper sentenced Johnson on Feb. 6 to 60 years in prison for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and a consecutive seven-year prison sentence for aggravated criminal sexual abuse. It was the maximum sentence allowed under the law. A hearing has been set for 9 a.m. June 6 in Lee County Circuit Court on a motion to reconsider the sentence filed in February by Johnson's attorney, public defender Douglas Lathe. In that motion, Johnson said the sentences require that he must serve 85% of the 60-year sentence and 50% of the seven-year sentence, and that the sentence is excessive in light of the evidence presented to the court. According to the motion, the court did not fully consider an article of the Illinois Constitution that states "all penalties shall be determined both according to the seriousness of the offense and with the objective of restoring the offender to useful citizenship along with other authoritative considerations in mitigation." The motion also states that the court should take into consideration recommendations made in a psychological and psychosexual evaluation dated Nov. 17, 2022. [ Dixon man sentenced to 67 years in prison for sexually abusing child ] Johnson was arrested on the charges in May 2019, seven months after Dixon Police Department investigators learned of an allegation of sexual abuse against Johnson. During that investigation, officers learned from a child forensic interview conducted at the Shining Star Children's Advocacy Center in Dixon that Johnson had sexually abused and assaulted a girl who was between the ages of 11 and 12, and that he had done so multiple times, Lee County State's Attorney Charles Boonstra has said. Those charges all involve the same victim, and they were alleged to have occurred in 2013. Johnson was indicted in May 2019 on four counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim younger than 13 and five counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim younger than 13. Boonstra has said that as the case was being prosecuted, investigators became aware of reports of other possible victims, with allegations that each had been abused or assaulted by Johnson at ages varying from 4 to 17 years old. After further investigation, Lee County prosecutors charged Johnson on Sept. 29, 2020, with two more counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with a 2011 assault in which the victim was at least 13 years old but younger than 17, according to charging documents. He pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in August 2022 and was sentenced in June 2024 to 180 days in the Lee County Jail, four years of probation and a $25,000 fine. The other charge was dismissed. Johnson then pleaded guilty Sept. 24 to two of the nine charges filed in 2019; the other seven were dismissed. Under that sentencing order, Johnson was given credit for 2,093 days served and ordered to register as a sex offender, according to court documents. Lee County Assistant State's Attorneys William Fawkes and Stephanie Sasscer are prosecutors in the case.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge urges state high court to read constitution as written
May 13—It's not often that someone at the lower end of the organization chart chastises those at the very top. But that's what happened recently when a state appeals court justice asked the Illinois Supreme Court to stop ignoring the Illinois Constitution's clear language that governs the legislative process. Fifth District Appellate Justice Mark Boie wrote that he could not ignore "the legislative and executive branches of our state government's continued disregard for the procedural rules and processes involved in passing laws in this state, then hiding behind and citing our supreme court precedent ... to justify their actions." That's fiery language by judicial standards. What's this about? It concerns the public's interest in having a thoughtful, deliberate legislative process that is required by the Illinois Constitution, but ignored by state supreme court justices. All Illinoisans have a dog in this fight because they have to live within the laws as written. The dispute concerns the Constitution's "three-readings rule" — Article 4, Section 8, Paragraph (d) — which requires that proposed legislation be read and discussed in both the state House and Senate on three separate days. As explained in a court decision, "the three-reading requirement ensures that the Legislature is fully aware" of a bill's contents while providing "the opportunity for the public" to read and comment on the bill "prior" to passage. It reflects one of those good-government promises proponents used to sell the 1970 Illinois Constitution to voters. But few things involving Illinois' pervasively corrupt government are what they seem because the governor, legislature and supreme court ignore the three-readings rule. Boie wrote his partially concurring opinion in a case involving a 2023 gun law. But there have been many other important laws passed in the same surprise-attack manner, most notably the controversial SAFE-T Act social-justice bill. In a process known as "gut and replace," proponents at the last minute strip an unrelated bill of its contents, put in new language and present the final product for a vote. Once passed, sometimes in a matter of hours, legislative leaders sign a statement asserting all rules were followed. Senate President Don Harmon wrote such an affirmation regarding the gun bill, a fib so bold that Boie, relying on the undisputed legislative history, charged "there is nothing further from the truth." The bottom line is that the legislative process can become a giant game of pretend. Legislators pretend to follow the rules. The high court for years has pretended to believe them. As a result, Boie charged that "foundations of the bedrock of democracy are decimated by failing to require the lawmakers to adhere to the constitutional principle." He noted appellate courts in the Fourth and Fifth districts, representing 89 of Illinois' 102 counties, have said "now is the time" for the high court to end this "continuing disregard for the proper constitutional rules and procedures required for passing laws." What will the high court's justices do in the face of such a clarion call? Probably nothing. They have, mostly, ignored the issue. They've occasionally warned legislators to change their behavior, the equivalent of an old man shaking his cane at misbehaving kids. But, just like they ignore the three-readings rule, legislators ignore the justices' warnings. All seven high court justices swore an oath to uphold federal and state constitutions. What they apparently meant was that they would if they felt like it, and wouldn't if they didn't.
Chicago Tribune
11-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Court upholds legality of Waukegan tax on gaming machines; city due $11M
After more than four years of defending a lawsuit against video gaming operators and their trade association, the city of Waukegan will receive more than $11.3 million after repelling an onslaught of allegations over several iterations before the court. Throughout the history of the lawsuit, the city kept asking the Lake County Court to dismiss the eight-count complaint filed by the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association (IMOGA) and its members in Waukegan. Quickly dismissing some of the counts claimed by IMOGA and its Waukegan-based members, the court let them rewrite other portions of the complaint as the case remained in the court system for more than four years. Eventually, the court either dismissed parts of the complaint completely or entered a summary judgment in favor of the city of Waukegan on the rest, ruling if everything the plaintiffs said in their complaint was true, they would lose. Not done, IMOGA appealed. The Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District ruled in favor of the city on March 4 in Elgin entitling the city to receive tax money gaming operators withheld because they argued a tax the city properly imposed was illegal. Stweart Weiss, an attorney with Waukegan corporation counsel Elrod Fridman, said in an email Monday the city's 'penny push tax' approved by the City Council in August of 2020 was legal. It provided the city with a penny for every play on a video game, according to court documents. 'The City's taxing authority was clearly granted by the Illinois legislature, and it has been validated by every court that has reviewed it,' Weiss said in the email. ' All that remains now is for terminal operators to collect the tax from players and remit it to the citizens of Waukegan.' Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said in an email Tuesday the city's finance department estimates more than $11.3 million is due from the penny punch tax for the past three years ending on Dec 31, 2024. It comes from 336 terminals in 58 spots. Approximately $2.5 million is anticipated in future years. Though it took more than four years of litigation to finally be in a position to collect the penny push tax, Taylor said it 'will go a long way' to help with the operating costs necessary to meet residents' needs. 'The revenue to be raised by the collection of the Push-Tax will go a long way in addressing the increasing operating costs of providing services to the citizens of Waukegan,' Taylor said in the email. 'The Push-Tax will be a welcomed source of relief for our community.' The City Council approved an ordinance requiring a penny push tax on April 9, 2020. It requires any person playing on a video gaming device to pay a tax of one cent per play, according to the court's opinion. Less than two weeks after Waukegan approved the tax, IMOGA and seven of its members sued the city alleging the law not only violated the Illinois Constitution, but changing the gaming terminals to calculate the tax was 'complicated and cost prohibitive,' according to the opinion. Passing the law, Waukegan intended to both collect revenue to provide for residents' needs and, 'provide adequate funds to offset the adverse effects of gambling that occur within the municipality,' according to the opinion. 'The city's position is not that it seeks to eliminate gambling; rather its position acknowledges a negative effect of the activity and the action it took to combat it,' Judge Ann B. Jorgenson said in the opinion.
