Incumbent politicians hate to be criticized, and in Illinois some of them have decided to do something about it – not by correcting the behavior for which people criticize them, but by trying to repeal the First Amendment. That may sound outrageous, but it’s true. On Thursday, the Illinois Senate’s Executive Committee passed a resolution...
Today the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s “eavesdropping” law, which had been widely criticized as the most unfair, overbroad law of its kind in the country. Under Illinois state law, recording someone else’s words without his or her consent was a felony. The law was supposedly intended to protect people’s private conversations, which...
TAGS: eavesdropping
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an ordinance that would force the popular ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft to drastically change the way they do business, if not shut down operations in the city entirely. The proposal contains numerous unnecessary provisions that would harm Uber and Lyft drivers as well as consumers and serve no...
TAGS: Chicago, Lyft, nanny state, taxis, Uber
Last week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed an ordinance that would regulate popular ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft in Chicago. Emanuel often claims that he wants Chicago to be friendly to new businesses, innovation and technology. Unfortunately, his proposal is anything but friendly to these “transportation network” services, and would force them to...
TAGS: Chicago, nanny state, Uber
By Paul Kersey
01/21/2014
Pam is a mom in northern Illinois whose son, Joshua, needs constant care because of a rare genetic syndrome that causes severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. Pam receives a modest subsidy from a Medicaid-waiver program that allows her to stay home and take care of Joshua. She isn’t a state employee; she just gets a...
TAGS: Harris v Quinn, Pam Harris, SEIU: Service Employees International Union, U.S. Supreme Court
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...
What are you thankful for? We’re thankful for people like Pam Harris who stand up to the government when it threatens their rights. Pam is a mom in northern Illinois whose son, Joshua, needs constant care because of a rare genetic syndrome that causes severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. Pam receives a modest subsidy from a Medicaid-waiver...
TAGS: Harris v Quinn, Pam Harris, SEIU: Service Employees International Union
By Paul Kersey
09/15/2013
Back in 2011 Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took on the state’s powerful unions and the Wisconsin Legislature enacted a dramatic labor law reform. Several lawsuits filed since the bill passed claimed Walker’s overhaul was unconstitutional. These lawsuits have been percolating through the courts ever since. The latest decision comes from a federal judge, who has...
If you want to criticize a politician, should you have to check with your lawyer first or get the government’s permission? You wouldn’t think so – at least not in America, where we have a First Amendment that’s supposed to protect our right to free speech. Unfortunately, laws enacted under the guise of “campaign finance...
The Chicago Tribune ran a front-page story lamenting Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s failure to eliminate food deserts in Chicago. A food desert is an area in which residents allegedly lack easy access to supermarkets that offer fresh produce. The exact definition varies depending on who you ask and when – the city used to consider areas without a...
TAGS: Chicago, Rahm Emanuel
