Newest Supreme Court nominee could affect Illinois

Regardless of who the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice is, the issues the high court may deal with will impact Illinoisans. (WJBC File Photo)

By Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – President Donald Trump’s most recent nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court could make decisions that affect Illinois on everything from gun rights to privacy, and state groups such as the ACLU of Illinois are closely watching the process with an eye toward what it means for this state.

Trump nominated D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge Brett Kavanaugh for a lifetime appointment to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh could shift the court to the right, which has the potential to impact a wide range of issues in Illinois, including cases from Illinois that could go before the Supreme Court.

One significant case from Illinois from the most recent court term was Janus vs. AFSCME, which ultimately freed public sector workers from forced union agency fees. Several years before that another Illinois case, Harris vs. Quinn, dealt with the same issue for home healthcare workers.

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on McDonald vs. Chicago, which found the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms applies to all states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson said it’s important the new justice be a strict constructionist who follows what the framers set out for in Second Amendment.

Pearson has said his group is involved in one case – fighting suburban Deerfield’s attempt to ban certain guns – that it is prepared to take to the Supreme Court. The ban was put on hold last month when a Lake County circuit court put an injunction on the ordinance.

American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois’ Ed Yohnka said other issues the nation’s high court could take up from Illinois could deal with technologies law enforcement agencies are using that trigger privacy concerns.

“Whether it’s (cell phone interceptors commonly called) Stingrays, whether it’s drones, whether it’s other things that could be put into place that could ultimately yield one of these kinds of challenges,” Yohnka said. “I think it’s just frankly a matter of what cases get there and when and how the justices ultimately examine them in light of the facts that are before them.”

Jeff Raines with Change Illinois, a group that wants to take political map making away from lawmakers, said the court has shown it can’t make its mind up on gerrymandering by punting a couple cases in the most recent term.

Raines said Illinois voters can’t wait for another case to be punted.

“Illinois is still able to reform their maps without needing the United States Supreme Court to be involved in this process,” Raines said. “The citizens and the General Assembly both have a voice and the ability to change the system and should.”

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