The Cook County Record covers the court system in Illinois. They have their hands full now that Governor Jay Robert Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon, House Speaker Chris Welch and Bozo Bob Morgan have kicked over the hornet’s nest with their new gun ban.
The Record has a feature story covering how two new lawsuits by “heavy hitters” (the NRA-backed suit and the Guns Save Life suit via the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance) are teed-up to take on Illinois new gun ban.
But let’s face it, defending this gun ban in the face of the Bruen Supreme Court decision will prove just as difficult as defending school segregation after the Brown v. Board of Education SCOTUS decision back in the 1950s into the 1960s. Sadly, it may take just as long too.
From the Cook County Record:
Illinois Democrats, who enacted one of America’s most stringent laws banning so-called “assault weapons,” will now need to defend their law against two more lawsuits, including against attorneys who have secured last year’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down state handgun restrictions.
On Jan. 24, the National Rifle Association filed suit in Southern Illinois federal court.
The legal team representing the NRA in the action is headlined by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement and appellate lawyer Erin Murphy.
Clement and Murphy led the legal team that argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court that led to the landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen. That decision struck down a strict New York state gun law, and built on the Supreme Court’s holding that the Second Amendment protects the ability of Americans from government regulation of firearms that are in “common use.”
I’ve got it on good authority that Clement’s hourly rate is $1500 per. The Illinois AG’s office BETTER have a line item with several million dollars in it to pay back plaintiffs for their legal fees after he loses these suits.
This news about the NRA’s attorney no doubt causes consternation in high places. You know Kwame and the gov have swapped worried phone calls on this news. Especially as the governor has Presidential ambitions. We imagine it went something like this:
Kwame: “You mean we’ve got to go up against the guy who won Bruen?”
JB Pritzker: “Mother *&^Y! You better hire some &*^*&^Y decent attorneys to fight this because you surely **&^()-up the case of out Effingham last week!”
Kwame: “It wasn’t my fault! I tried to get people down there but nobody wanted to go down there to Deliverance-land.”
JB Pritzker: “Nobody ever accused you of being smart, Kwame. Hire someone to do it right, will ya?”
More…
The NRA lawsuit was followed by a complaint on behalf of a coalition of Illinois gun owners’ rights groups, known collectively as the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance. That complaint was also filed in the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois…
Both of the lawsuits are seeking court orders immediately barring the state of Illinois from attempting to enforce HB5471.
The NRA is represented in its action by Clement, Murphy and others from the firm of Clement & Murphy, in Alexandria, Viriginia; and by attorneys Gary C. Pinter and Andrew A. Lothson, of the firm of Swanson Martin & Bell, of Edwardsville and Chicago.
The IGRA is represented by attorneys Mark L. Shaw and others with the firm Shaw Law Ltd., of Waukegan; and C.D. Michel and others with the firm of Michel & Associates, of Long Beach, California.
CD Michel’s rate, for us in the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance, $300 per hour. You see why we didn’t fight real hard to retain Paul Clement? And while Chuck Michel (pronounced ‘Michelle’) is no Paul Clement, I’d say he’s on the same all-star team of major league baseball when it comes to gun rights litigation.
To put it into perspective, Kwame Raoul’s skill set is somewhere around playing T-ball, aspiring to someday play T-shirt baseball with the older kiddos and maybe, just maybe, someday getting to play on a Little League squad. Hey, we all have to aspire to something, right?
The lawsuits now bring to six the number of actions pending in state and federal court against the gun ban.
Attorney Tom DeVore, former Republican candidate for Illinois Attorney General, filed two lawsuits in state court in southern Illinois. His first lawsuit secured a ruling from Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison, who issued a temporary restraining order barring enforcement of the law against about 860 people and gun shops in Illinois. DeVore has since filed a separate lawsuit in White County, seeking a similar TRO on behalf of 1,690 more people and gun shops.
DeVore’s lawsuits, however, include no claims under the U.S. Constitution. Rather, his suits assert claims under the Illinois state constitution, solely, precluding those lawsuits from landing in federal court and, ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has appealed Morrison’s ruling to the Illinois Fifth District Appellate Court.
Another lawsuit, filed in Crawford County by attorney Tom Maag, of Wood River, asserts claims under the U.S. Constitution. Raoul’s office has removed that action to the Southern Illinois federal district court, as well, where it remains pending. Maag has not sought any kind of emergency order barring enforcement of the law.
Yep, Pritzker kicked over the hornet’s nest.
And far from looking stateman-like and destined for higher office, this legislation is turning into his Waterloo. Additional court ruling against this law will make Pritzker look feckless and incompetent. But that’s what surrounding yourself with incompetent boobs looks like in the real world.
I am pleasantly surprised that not only did NRA jump into this, but retained the team that authored Bruen itself, which will be the basis for overturning HB5471, and potentially many other unconstitutional state gun laws such as the FOID. With this multi-pronged attack, I think our chances are extremely good at not only prevailing against HB5471, but also rolling back a lot of this same nonsense in other states.
Republicans in the House filed a bill to revoke the National Firearms Act of 1934 today. It won’t go anywhere in this present climate, but at least they are doing something on offense for a change. Killing NFA34, GCA68 and the ATF should be very high on our list of priorities at the federal level.
I still remember what Pritzker said to Blago about picking a black guy for Senator when Obama won his election for Pres. Deep down I’m pretty sure Pritzker is a racist. Bigtime.
All leftists are. Remember they will always accuse you of doing what they do themselves. It is a universal tell for the communist left.