How the Liberty Justice Center fought for freedom in 2013

With two court wins, no losses and many other activities to advance liberty in Illinois, the Liberty Justice Center, the Illinois Policy Institute’s public-interest litigation center, had a good year in 2013. In April, our client Steven Wailand, a Western Illinois University student, won his lawsuit against the city of Macomb, where officials tried to...

With two court wins, no losses and many other activities to advance liberty in Illinois, the Liberty Justice Center, the Illinois Policy Institute’s public-interest litigation center, had a good year in 2013.

In April, our client Steven Wailand, a Western Illinois University student, won his lawsuit against the city of Macomb, where officials tried to deny him a seat on the City Council even though he got the most votes in the election. The city tried to argue that the term “majority” in its election laws means “50 percent plus 1.” So, they said, Wailand did not receive a “majority” when he received 17 votes out of 33 votes cast. Judge Rodney Clark of the McDonough County Circuit Court disagreed, and ruled that “majority” means what every dictionary says it means: more than half of the total. Now Steven has taken his rightful place on the Macomb City Council – and the court has sent the message that government officials can’t just make up their own secret definitions for the laws they apply.

In August, LJC won a victory for economic liberty when our first client, Julie Crowe, won the right to start her own vehicle-for-hire business. The city of Bloomington had an ordinance that gave existing taxi and vehicle-for-hire companies the right to object to new businesses and allowed the city manager to deny someone a vehicle-for-hire license when he didn’t consider a new business “desirable.” When Julie applied for a license in 2011, all of the existing companies objected, and the city predictably denied her application, saying there was no “need” for her business – even though Julie was prepared to offer a van service that would provide a safe alternative to the “party buses” that dominate downtown transportation in Bloomington on the weekends. On Aug. 30, Judge Rebecca Foley of the McLean County Circuit Court struck down Bloomington’s licensing scheme because it served no purpose except to protect established businesses from competition, and because the law was so vague and arbitrary that it gave the city official virtually unlimited discretion to grant or deny a license. Now, on weekend nights in Bloomington, you can find Julie driving her van, giving college students a safe ride home at night – free to exercise her right to earn a living.

In November, LJC filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in Harris v. Quinn, a case that will decide whether the state can force people who aren’t government employees to pay dues to a public sector union. The plaintiff in that case, Pam Harris, receives a modest state subsidy so she can take care of her severely disabled son, Josh, at home rather than see him institutionalized. In 2009, Gov. Pat Quinn issued an executive order authorizing the state to recognize a union for people in Pam’s program, even though they’re not government employees. Our amicus brief argues that forcing people like Pam to give money to a union and accept the union as their “exclusive representative” violates their First Amendment rights and threatens to distort the political marketplace of ideas in Illinois. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case in January.

Meanwhile, two of our other cases continue to make their way through the courts.

In Beavers Donuts v. City of Evanston, we’re representing the owners of Beavers Coffee & Donuts, who have been denied a license to operate their food truck in Evanston because of a local law that only allows owners or agents of brick-and-mortar restaurants in Evanston to operate food trucks there. Our lawsuit challenges this unfair discrimination, which only serves one purpose: protecting established restaurants from competition.

In Illinois Liberty PAC v. Madigan, we’re challenging Illinois’ campaign contribution limits, which limit how much everyone in Illinois can give to candidates for office – except the political party leaders, who can give as much as they want to the candidates they favor. Our federal lawsuit argues that this attempt to tilt the political playing field in the establishment’s favor violates the First Amendment.

In addition to working on our cases, LJC has also spoken out on other issues affecting Illinoisans’ liberty, such as Chicago’s persecution of Uber, the downfall of the “Amazon tax,” the dangerous funding guarantee in the recent pension “fix” and excessive restrictions on personal behavior.

We look forward to continuing the fight for liberty in 2014 with more lawsuits and, we hope, more good news.