MEDIA ALERT: Ruling to be issued Friday in dispute over Macomb aldermanic race
Hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday has been canceled; written decision to be issued by 4 p.m. Friday
MEDIA ALERT
from the LIBERTY JUSTICE CENTER
Media contact: Diana Rickert 312-607-4977
Case documents available online
Hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday has been canceled; written decision to be issued by 4 p.m. Friday
MACOMB, IL (April 25, 2013) The hearing scheduled for Friday, April 26 in the case of Wailand v. City of Macomb has been canceled.
The hearing was scheduled at the conclusion of the April 8 evidentiary hearing held in this case to allow the city of Macomb to provide additional evidence in support of its position. On Thursday, the city of Macomb filed a motion stating that it had no additional evidence to present to the court. The court granted that motion and has advised that a ruling will be issued in writing by 4 p.m. Friday, April 26.
During the Feb. 26, 2013 election, Steven Wailand received 17 votes for Second Ward alderman the majority of the votes. His opponent received 16 votes. However, city and county officials have refused to declare Wailand winner of the election. City and county officials claim that a majority requires a majority plus one vote.
The Liberty Justice Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit litigation center started by the Illinois Policy Institute, filed a lawsuit asking the city of Macomb to seat the duly elected winner of the Second Ward aldermanic race.
The Liberty Justice Center has attempted to resolve this issue directly with city and county government officials. Here is a link to a letter that was sent to Macomb government officials by Diane Cohen, general counsel at the Liberty Justice Center.
A copy of the complaint filed in the case of Steven Wailand v. City of Macomb, et al, is available here
A copy of the motion filed in this case is available here
Media contact: Diana Rickert at 312-607-4977.
The Liberty Justice Center is a non-profit, non-partisan public-interest litigation center that fights to protect economic liberty, private property rights, free speech, and other fundamental rights in Illinois and beyond. First and foremost, the Liberty Justice Center seeks to ensure that the rights to earn a living and to start a business, which are essential to a free and prosperous society, are available not just to a politically privileged few, but to all. The Liberty Justice Center pursues its goals through strategic, precedent-setting litigation to revitalize constitutional restraints on government power and protections for individual rights. To learn more about the Liberty Justice Center, visit: libertyjusticecenter.org