Attorney confident final judgment in Illinois gun ban challenge applies
statewide
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[March 04, 2023]
(The Center Square) – An attorney for state Rep. Dan Caulkins,
R-Decatur, says he’s confident a final judgment against Illinois’ new
gun ban issued by a Macon County judge Friday is statewide pending an
expected appeal from the state.
Gov. J.B. Pritzer enacted the ban on certain semi-automatic weapons and
magazines over certain capacities on Jan. 10. Two weeks after the ban
was in effect, lawsuits were filed in federal- and state-level courts.
Macon County Judge Rodney Forbes ruled the state’s gun ban and registry
unconstitutional.
“The Court is bound to apply the appellate court’s holdings to
plaintiffs’ identical equal protection claim in this case,” Forbes said.
The case concluded in Macon County Friday had a temporary restraining
order in place barring the state from enforcing the law against named
plaintiffs. It is separate from three other cases brought by attorney
Thomas DeVore in Effingham and White counties. DeVore’s cases, which
were consolidated by the Illinois Supreme Court, also have temporary
restraining orders in place but only for named plaintiffs. .
DeVore’s initial Effingham County case secured a TRO on several
procedural issues and on an argument the law violates equal protections
for exempting certain professions in security and law enforcement. The
state appealed and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the TRO, but
only for the equal protections argument. That led to a cascade of three
other TROs to be issued, including for the Macon County case that also
dealt with the equal protections argument.
“Further, equal protection and special legislation claims ‘are judged by
the same standard,’ … so the Court is also bound to apply those holdings
to plaintiffs’ special legislation claim in this case,” Forbes’ order
said Friday. “Defendants argue that the [Effingham County case upheld by
appellate court] is wrongly decided for multiple reasons but acknowledge
that the Court is bound to apply it. For these reasons, the Court enters
final judgment in favor of plaintiffs.”
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Inside the Macon County courtroom
Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, during a hearing challenging Illinois' gun and
magazine ban - Greg Bishop / The Center Square
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Before the order was signed, Stocks explained his understanding of its
impact.
“A judgment that a law is unconstitutional we submit would be void as if
it never existed and it would be unenforceable in all applications and
in all respects that would mean statewide,” Stocks told The Center
Square. “The state is not going to concede that point but the order will
have its legal impact.”
Stocks said there needs to be finality to the question so there isn’t
“chaos” around the question of if the law is in effect or not.
“If a law is unconstitutional, it’s unconditional, and I would not want
to be in the position of any law enforcement ever enforcing a law that’s
been adjudicated unconstitutional because their insurance carrier for
[civil action for deprivation of rights liability] is going to be doing
handstands and flips,” Stocks said. “The state needs to move this
quickly … because of that particular question and we need to get it
resolved.”
Messages seeking comment from the Illinois Attorney General and
Pritzker’s office weren’t immediately returned. It’s expected they’ll
file an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other
issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning
broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of
Springfield.
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