LJC In The News
Attorney General: Oklahoma Department of Education Acted Illegally
(Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs)—An official opinion issued by the office of Attorney General Mike Hunter concludes the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) acted illegally when it imposed new regulations on a state scholarship program for children with special needs. To serve beneficiaries of the Lindsey Nicole Henry (LNH)...
Four Beta Theta Pi Members Sue IU Over Privacy Violations and Breach of Contract
(News Edge)—Four current Beta Theta Pi members — Cameron Gutterman, Dale Nelson, Hunter Johnson and Brian Hiltunen — filed a lawsuit Thursday against IU and IU President Michael McRobbie for privacy violations and breach of contract. All four were in Beta Theta Pi’s fall 2018 pledge class. They are now...
Wisconsin Think Tank Fights Press Blacklisting at Seventh Circuit
(Courthouse News)—Wisconsin’s governor is unfairly barring a conservative think tank’s journalists from attending press events because of the group’s political views, its attorney argued in the Seventh Circuit on Friday. The Madison-based John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, which refers to itself as “the free market voice of Wisconsin,”...
Appeals Court Hears Media Access Case Against Evers
(Wisconsin Public Radio)—In a hearing Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, a conservative think tank argued the Evers administration violated the First Amendment by denying the group access to a press briefing and to the administration’s media advisory list. The MacIver Institute for Public Policy,...
Lawsuit Claims IU Violated Constitution In Search of ID Card Data
(The Indiana Lawyer)—According to the complaint, the four plaintiffs were freshman pledges to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity when IU began investigating allegations of a hazing incident in the fall of 2018. The plaintiffs told the university they were in their dorm rooms at the time in question, and IU...
Parents Suing West Ada Education Association, Claiming Illegal Strike
(CBS2 Idaho News)—A group of parents have filed a lawsuit against the West Ada Education Association, claiming this week’s sick-outs are an illegal strike. Daniel Suhr, who is a lawyer with the Liberty Justice Center is representing those parents. He spoke with 670 KBOI’s Nate Shelman on Tuesday afternoon. “Idaho...
South Carolina Supreme Court Set to Hear Arguments on Constitutionality of SAFE Grants Program
(The Center Square)—South Carolina’s Supreme Court will hear arguments Friday on the constitutionality of a program that would provide scholarships to enable families struggling financially because of COVID-19 to keep their children in nonpublic schools. Funded with federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars, Gov. Henry McMaster’s...
Judge Urged to Keep Montana Political Spending Rule
(AP News)—Attorneys for Montana’s governor urged a federal judge Thursday to uphold an executive order that requires companies to report political contributions if they want to bid on large state contracts, in a case that could test whether so-called dark money groups can avoid public disclosure of spending. A conservative...
Fight Over Private School Grants Could Be Heading to the SC Supreme Court
(WISTV)—The battle over grants that would help pay for private school tuition across the state might be heading to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Opponents of Governor Henry McMaster’s Safe Access to Flexible Education grants, also called SAFE grants, filed a lawsuit last month. It came after McMaster allocated $32...
Lawsuit: Illinois Expanded Mail Voting is Partisan Scheme
(Associated Press)—Chicago-area Republicans filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging Illinois’ expanded vote-by-mail program is a “partisan scheme” to help Democrats get votes and could open the door to election fraud. The lawsuit is the latest GOP effort to curb mail-in voting, which President Donald Trump has called flawed and the...
Cook County GOP Sues to Block State’s Enhanced Vote-By-Mail Efforts
(The Chicago Tribune)—The Cook County Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit Monday to block the state’s new enhanced vote-by-mail law, contending the measure was a scheme by Democrats under Gov. J.B. Pritzker to amplify their vote totals and dilute GOP ballots in the Nov. 3 general election. The sponsor of...
Illinois Republicans Urge Seventh Circuit to Revive Bid for Large Groups
(Law 360)—A Seventh Circuit Judge pushed back Tuesday on Illinois Republicans’ claim that they should be exempted from group-size limits like religious gatherings are under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest COVID-19 safety order, saying the party isn’t comparing apples to apples under the First Amendment. Counsel for the Illinois Republican Party...
Hearing Held Regarding Funds Set to be Allocated From Emergency Fund for Private School Tuition
(WISTV)—A hearing was held on Wednesday in Orangeburg regarding a lawsuit filed to stop Gov. Henry McMaster from allocating money to help families pay for private school tuition. Judge Edgar Dickson did not make a decision in the case Wednesday afternoon. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs and defendants in the case...
State GOP: Ban On Political Gatherings Violates Free Speech
(Chicago Law Bulletin)—The Illinois Republican Party and three local GOP groups sued Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in federal court Monday, challenging a provision in his May 29 executive order that limits public gatherings to 10 people or less during the pandemic. Along with the Will County Republican Central Committee, the...
Illinois Anti-Abortion Group Sues Pritzker, Claims COVID-19 Gathering Limits Unconstitutional
(The Chicago Tribune)—An Illinois anti-abortion organization alleges in a federal lawsuit that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has unconstitutionally allowed certain groups to disregard the state’s limits on the number of people who can gather together while holding other groups to a different standard. The lawsuit, filed in Chicago late Tuesday by...