Bad news from the US District Court in Southern Illinois. The ISRA’s lawsuit Anderson v. Raoul challenging the Land of Lincoln’s ban on suppressors has been stayed for 90 days. Here’s the docket entry from Court Listener.
ORDER STAYING CASE: This case was filed on February 27, 2023. On February 24, 2023, this Court consolidated four cases that addressed the Protect Illinois Communities Act a/k/a Public Act 102-1116 a/k/a 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9, to wit: 23-cv-141-SPM, 23-cv-192-SPM, 23-cv-209-SPM, and 23-cv-215-SPM. At that time, the Court also entered a briefing schedule and set oral argument on the pending Motions for Preliminary Injunction. Of note, there is neither a pending motion for preliminary injunction nor have the parties sought to consolidate this matter with the pending cases. Nevertheless, this Court has “broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to its power to control its own docket.” See Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 706 (1997). The Court FINDS that the pending motions in lead case 23-cv-209-SPM could have a significant effect on this matter and does not wish to delay proceedings therein. Accordingly, the Court concludes that a stay of these proceedings is proper. This matter is hereby STAYED for 90 days. All pending matters are held in abeyance. The parties shall file a joint status report on or before July 1, 2023<. Signed by Judge Stephen P. McGlynn on 4/5/2023. (jce) THIS TEXT ENTRY IS AN ORDER OF THE COURT. NO FURTHER DOCUMENTATION WILL BE MAILED. (Entered: 04/05/2023)
Emphasis added.
In my layperson translation: Judge McGlynn wants to tackle the challenges to the Illinois Firearm Ban Act (the so-called “Protect Illinois Communities Act”) before he takes on this case. Especially given that both the consolidated group of four challenges to the gun ban (which includes the Guns Save Life, FFL-IL, Gun Owners of America, et al. lawsuit) and this suppressor case will likely argue the same points.
There may also be additional suppressor cases winding through the courts and McGlynn wants to wait to see if he gets any guidance on how to handle this one based upon those.
Don’t panic. But it’s a little disappointing.
Also, for those following this case closely, Kwame Raoul has withdrawn his motion for an extension for more time to answer the earlier filings.
This one does not upset me in particular. I think your assessment is right on this, John. I think Judge McGlynn sees far-reaching issues with the Illinois Gun Ban challenge, and wants to move forward with that, first. There is not the same need for urgency in the suppressor case, since they have been illegal in Illinois for a long time. The hard dates and times in Pritzker’s Gun Grab are far more urgent.