CHICAGO (Jan. 25, 2015) – A federal lawsuit challenging Illinois’ campaign finance laws – which place campaign contribution caps on average citizens but not on certain politicians – will go to trial before the U.S. District Court in Chicago starting today. The trial is expected to last three days. Presiding over the case is Judge Gary Feinerman.

The trial is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. this morning. On Tuesday, the trial will resume starting at 9:30 a.m. and on Wednesday, court proceedings are scheduled to continue starting at 9:45 a.m. at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. 

The case, Illinois Liberty PAC v. Madigan, was filed in July 2012 by the Liberty Justice Center, a public-interest law firm based in Chicago. The lawsuit shows that Illinois’ campaign finance law violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The lead attorney on this case is Jacob Huebert, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. 

“When Illinois’ political leaders enacted so-called campaign-finance reform, they put limits on everyone’s campaign contributions — except their own. In Illinois, all citizens and all groups except political parties are limited in how much they can give to the candidates they support — but not Michael Madigan and the three other party leaders in the General Assembly,” said Jacob Huebert, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. “Under the guise of reform, Madigan tilted the political playing field to make sure that he can crush any challenges to his decades-long domination of state government. That’s wrong, and in this trial, we’re asking the court to declare that it violates the First Amendment.”

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For questions, bookings or interviews: Diana Rickert or Nathaniel Hamilton (312) 607-4977

The Liberty Justice Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public-interest law firm that specializes in protecting individual rights and enforcing limits on government power. Since its founding, the Liberty Justice Center has focused on cases related to protecting economic liberty, private property rights, free speech and other fundamental rights in Illinois and beyond. To learn more about the Liberty Justice Center, visit libertyjusticecenter.org/.