An Effingham County, Illinois circuit judge has put on a law school class in issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s gun and magazine ban law late Friday afternoon. Tom DeVore filed the suit on behalf of 860+ plaintiffs and the “as applied” lawsuit exempts the named plaintiffs (and only the plaintiffs for now) from the law’s provisions.
A hearing on a motion for a preliminary injunction banning enforcement for all Illinois gun owners is scheduled for February 1.
At the hearing Wednesday morning, Attorney General Kwame Raoul couldn’t muster enough attorneys to represent the four named defendants. While the Governor and AG had representation, the House Speaker and the Senate President had none – and that didn’t help the state’s case.
Now, after an emergency hearing Wednesday went so very poorly for the state, Effingham County Circuit Court Judge Joshua Morrison ruled against Raoul’s not-so-dream legal team.
The judge ruled that the ban violates not only parts of the Illinois constitution, but is also contrary to the US Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. Here’s the opinion granting the TRO.
The order blocking enforcement for the plaintiffs in the suit marks the second time in less than a month that the Land of Lincoln’s top lawyer has argued and failed to defend high-profile radical legislation against court orders blocking their implementation.
Back in December, this not-so-sharp AG appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court when a county judge blocked the disastrous “no cash bail” law from taking effect for two-thirds of Illinois. Not only did the local Supremes reject Raoul’s motion, but they expanded the order to all 102 counties. That’s some mighty fine litigating there, Mr. Attorney General.
Break out the tissues, right?
Unlike some media outlets that were practically hyperventilating news of the order blocking the gun ban, The Cook County Record offers at least a somewhat balanced report, including the pledge of an appeal directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.
A judge in downstate Effingham County has issued an order barring the state from attempting to enforce its new law banning so-called assault weapons against more than 800 people and gun shops, who signed on to one of the first lawsuits filed to challenge the constitutionality of the law championed by Gov. JB Pritzker.
Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison issued the temporary restraining order in the early evening hours on Friday, Jan. 20 in the lawsuit led by attorney Tom DeVore, a former Republican candidate for Illinois Attorney General.
Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul immediately vowed to seek to overturn Morrison’s ruling on appeal.
Of course the AG and the governor will appeal. They don’t have any other choice. However, the issuance of a well-written, well-reasoned TRO bodes well for the case’s likelihood of success as four conditions must be met for a court to issue one of these orders. These include: did the plaintiff possess a clear right in need of protection, will the plaintiff(s) suffer irreparable injury if the order is not granted, the plaintiff has no remedy at law, and lastly, the plaintiff is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim.
Judge Morrison covered each of those points, and evaluated each of plaintiffs’ attorney Tom Devore’s claims. The judge indicated that all four of DeVore’s claims had a likelihood of success on their merits.
Considering how poorly the arguments went for the AG’s lawyers, the decision shouldn’t have shocked anyone. Here is the transcript from the hearing provided by Edgar County Watchdogs.
Governor Pritzker’s grand design to show himself as a wise and capable statesman destined for higher office has been something of a train wreck so far. Instead of looking like a worthy presidential candidate who can get things done, he looks more like a feckless blow-hard surrounded by incompetents.
“Although disappointing, it is the initial result we’ve seen in many cases brought by plaintiffs whose goal is to advance ideology over public safety,” Pritzker said. “We are well aware that this is only the first step in defending this important legislation.”
Pritzker said he remains confident the courts will uphold the constitutionality of the law.
Pritzker is likely whistling past the judicial graveyard. There are already at least three lawsuits, one in federal court, besides DeVore’s that Raoul will have to scrounge up staff to defend against.
If that’s not bad enough news for the state, the new Illinois Gun Rights Alliance is set to file our lawsuit sometime next week. I serve as the Executive Director of Guns Save Life, one of the founding members of the alliance. With a legal dream team of seasoned expert counselors including Chuck Michele from the Second Amendment Law Center, we expect the federal courts to issue us a similar restraining order that will cover everyone in the entire state, not just the named plaintiffs.
That is if one of the other lawsuits don’t get a similar restraining order first.
Wow – they gutted a prior insurance related bill and loaded it with gun control. And due to procedural lapses, they violated the Illinois constitution. Seems to me like government at its worst. Just say’in…
“And due to procedural lapses,”
let me correct that for you…
And due to INTENTIONAL procedural lapses,….
overall..
1. they intentionally lied.
2. they intentionally violated state law and in at least one aspect federal law.
3. they intentionally violated not only the state constitution but the U.S. Constitution as well.
4. they intentionally deceived the public at large.
5. and if the context of their resulting actions were allowed to continue they will have implemented a true tyranny.
It’s a start! Meanwhile I bought another magazine I don’t need…yet🙄 No expiration date.
all of these anti second amendment laws are unconstitutional, why doesn’t one of these pro2A sheriffs or county attorneys issue an arrest warrant for the governor, AG or the the slime who wrote or supported this law for treason?? why are we always on the defensive? why don’t we start going after the root problem? if some of these far left politicians end up in prison for life or swing from a noose for treason, then maybe we can end this attack on our rights
exactly why are we always on defense?
we should be fighting for the return of all the different rights stolen from us over the years not just 2A related
It all circles back to the nitwits in IL who keep voting for worthless ratbassturds. And aiding the aforementioned nitwit stupidity are zipped lipped Gun Owners who fail to define Gun Control as an agenda rooted in racism and genocide…you know who you are.
I like your posts….. Sometimes… This one I like…
not as much as [she] does.
Pritzker the Pig gets slapped. Not hard enough yet but it’s a start.
I partially masturbated
Careful now Oh Grand Marsupial…
You’ll need your eyesight to continue ruling over your domain with both types of clear vision.
BTW- can you do that hanging upside down?
Asking for a friend…
Sure but it looks silly.
And its messy.
{Yankin’ it hanging upside down}
“Sure but it looks silly.”
And just try and explain the Marsupial seed dribbled on your chin… 😉
they told us that in grade school. kid in the front row turned and pointed at a thickly bespectacled lad and pronounced, “looks like he stopped just in time!”
hi- larity ensued.
Partially!?!
That’s something I’ve never attempted nor do I want to.
This is a good thing for my kin in Illinois. They need to remove themselves and join another state like Iowa. As long as shitcago exists they’ll be in danger
As long as they don’t bring Illinoisistan politics with them. We’ve worked to hard beating back the Liberal Progressive Democrat Horde over the last 15 years.
MSNBC news mentioned that other states have very similar laws.
Due to the mess the radical Trumpite Supreme Court got themselves into with their vague Bruen decision this is one case the Supreme Court will run and hide from and refuse to hear.
The lower court rulings will stand one way or the other and most likely they will uphold the Illinois bans on assault rifles because it would put in jeopardy all of the other states bans who just may revolt and refuse to rescind their bans creating a Constitutional Crisis, a fact not unnoticed by the corrupt courts..
The lower courts as well as the disingenuous Supreme Court is well aware of how hated the assault rifle is with the general public and public influence is always taken into consideration by the court.
The crafty and sly courts will drag this case out until all the hullaballoo dies down and then quietly let the Illinois Law Stand, they have no other choice politically. They know they cannot let the Nation descend into the chaos of an armed camp of Trumpite jackbooted revolutionaries hell bent on re-creating another Hitler’s Germany.
They know they cannot let the Nation descend into the chaos of an armed camp of Bidumite jackbooted revolutionaries hell bent on re-creating another Hitler’s Germany.
FIFYYFI!
herr dacian would like that, he has always dreamed of satisfying Hitler.
oh shut up dacian. you continually post gibberish and nonsense.
one state at a time, its coming. just been waiting for the right case to make it the law of the land and all those others claimed to be very similar will go away.
yes, go ahead and booger-brain all you want you child like moronic fascist piece of excrement.
to Booger Brain our forum paranoid
Yes the truth hurts that is what sent your paranoia through the roof. See a Shrink
It is clear your the one who has MENTAL ISSUES!!!
You hate the US CONSTITUTION!!!!
And you rather be a SUBJECT who is told what to say and due…
Since you are paid to TROLL this site!!!!
paranoia? Yet another word for which you don’t know the meaning.
Learn English.
dacian, the DUNDERHEAD It seems that you Leftist Radicals would like to blame everything on Donald J Trump. The problem is that Trump is not responsible for the crime wave striking America. You Lefties are. the so called “gun violence”? You Leftists are responsible. In spite of your protestations to the contrary.
Don’t you think it is time for you to grow up and accept your responsibilities for what has befallen this great nation? You people have done everything you can to make America a ghetto.
to Walter the Beverly Hill jack
Quote———this great nation? ———quote
Mcdonald’s U.S.A. ———-employee -$9.00 hr. No Benefits Big Mac $5.81
McDonalds———–employee $22.00 hours 6 weeks vacation, pension, life insurance,1 year paid maternity leave. Big Mac $4.82
to Walter the Beverly Hillbilly
Correction the higher Mcdonald’s wages and full benefits are paid in Denmark
dacian, the DUNDERHEAD. So the f’ what? McDonald’s isn’t meant to be be a career, is it? Most of the employees are school kids or just out of High School. Managers there move on to other companies.
I take it you are moving to Denmark soon? Then you can get a job working at McDonald’s there? (God, I hope so.)
to walter the beverly Hillbilly
Nice try at disingenuous deflection but the point made by me was that THE U.S. IS NOT THE GREATEST COUNTRY TO LIVE IN ANYMORE. I could give you many more examples but you are not high enough on the intellectual plane to understand them anymore than you understood this post.
As far as leaving we need to deport people like you so we Socialists can civilized the U.S. for the working people of this country.
Once again you made a complete fool of yourself by the laughable claim that the U.S. is a great country to live in. Have your wife explain my post to you.
dacian The DUNDERHEAD, Horse pucky! For your edification McDonald’s is not the sole employer of people in the US. You can give all the “examples” your little heart desires. But it still doesn’t mean jack. The US has liberated more people than any other country in the world.
Socialism is NOT the answer to “civilization”. As a matter of fact, you people are control freaks. You want to make people dependent on your government largess just like the old Soviet Union. How did that work out?
The only fool here are you Leftist dingbats thinking people want what you are “selling”.
Wake up, Lefty, Your philosophy is as much a hasbeen as you are.
The real deal is to deport all your illegal aliens who have or are crossing the border. Would you like to join them? Maybe in Venezuela? Your real goal to to make the US a third world country.
sounds more like wishful thinking to me…the more outrageous these laws are the more quickly they are likely to be challenged…
sounds like more wishful thinking…the more outrageous the law, the more quickly it’s likely to be challenged…
Your source says it all. And MSNBC’s claim that Bruen is vague is laughable. It is very plain. And it was also decided with the full knowledge by the court that it would affect numerous other states that had enacted CCW requirements that made getting a permit subjective. These laws are all unconstitutional. Unfortunately many law abiding citizens will be hurt by these stupid laws and as a news flash for you, THEY WILL NOT STOP THE KILLING.
Spoken like a true Alfred E. Neuman.
Also this great news. Yesterday evening Todd Vandermyde reported via his You Tube channel Freedoms Steel that the Federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has just vacated and remanded a lower district court case gun ban in Illinois for a new hearing/trial due to the new scrutiny standard mandated by the Bruen decision . So unlike the 2nd Circuit court, the 7th seems to be taking the Bruen decision very seriously and appears to have put lawmakers, judges, and courts on notice about it in a very timely manner.
https://youtu.be/Au1Gu0D7kjk
twice in a 24 hour period they have been slapped by the court.
Yep, and they are just getting started. Illinois politicians could very well have shot themselves in the foot along with the other blue states as their unlawful gun bans certainly could be shot down by the 7th and thus there would be a split among circuit courts about so called “AWB and magazine bans” which would strongly compel SCOTUS to take it up and sooner than later.
The case that I think will probably decide the issue is the California AWB case that is in front of Benitez.
Remember, this is case has already been tried — i.e., evidence was heard, both sides rested, etc. — and Judge Benitez made findings of fact that California had not produced sufficient evidence to carry its burden. (The Ninth Circuit sat on the appeal of Benitez’s order because Bruen and another California AWB challenge were pending, and remanded the case after Bruen came down.)
From an appellate law standpoint, findings of fact are almost impossible to reverse, and you don’t get a “do over” unless either the district court grants a new trial (which Benitez ain’t doing) or an appellate court orders one (extremely rare to begin with, and none of the typical reasons for granting a new trial are present).
As I read the tea leaves, Benitez is setting up another judgment that will say (1) I already decided this, and California doesn’t get to reopen the evidence, but (2) even if I let in the additional evidence California has proffered, it would not change my findings. Therefore (3) law again struck down as unconstitutional, permanent injunction entered, no stay of the injunction other than a short administrative one to allow the Ninth Circuit a window to act.
Ninth Circuit will then stay the injunction. Plaintiffs will take a shadow docket appeal of the stay to SCOTUS, which will probably do what they did in the recent Second Circuit case: “we’ll deny the appeal of the stay FOR NOW, but come back if the Ninth Circuit doesn’t expedite the appeal and decide it promptly.”
That will put the Ninth Circuit in a box. They can’t do their “sit on the appeal for years” dance like they did in Young v. Hawaii — if they do, SCOTUS will just vacate the stay. They’ll be hard pressed to reverse a finding of fact (again, appellate courts decide issues of law, and disputed fact issues are decided by the trial court). And, of course, rotsa ruck coming up with historical analogues that satisfy the Bruen test (and they will be limited to the factual record of the trial court in that regard).
So either the Ninth Circuit recognizes and follows Bruen (not likely), or will have to issue a decision that throws out the usual appellate law rule book on LOTS of issues in order to uphold the law. And that could be so facially bad that SCOTUS might simply issue a GVR order — granting cert, vacating the opinion of the Court of Appeals, and rendering judgment for the Petitioner (reinstating Benitez order) — no oral argument of briefing necessary. (I’d love to see SCOTUS start GVR’ing 2A cases — those would be benchslaps to recalcitrant courts of appeals, essentially saying “your decision is so facially wrong and contrary to Bruen that it doesn’t even merit serious consideration. Reversed. And we’ll keep doing this if you keep ignoring Bruen.”)
Case will probably be handled in the usual fashion, but again on this record there will be all sorts of procedural and evidentiary hurdles California will have to overcome, in addition to the obvious Bruen issues.
Thanks for the very thoughtful and thorough analysis LKB, much appreciated. This will be an extremely interesting year for Second Amendment issues and confidence is very high among a lot of us with some very positive outcomes but probably some setbacks along the way. It also seems at least Justice Alito and Justice Thomas are losing patience with lower court shenanigans and also from threats of “court packing”.
My favorite part from the judge’s decision, according to the article linked, is where he calls out the special carve-outs for cops, military, prison officials, etc, for being unconstitutional. It is way past time to end that crap; cops supporting all these unconstitutional bills one they get theirs makes me want to vomit.
Often politicians are exempted too and their security details, as they often do not like the laws that they pass especially when it comes to their own safety while at the same time gleefully stuffing it down our throats. For thee but not for me Marxist garbage.
But they are more special then others. They need their gunms because they put themselves in dangerous situations. We are different, we only get car jacked or mugged when we go out and about. Theres no need for the commoner to be going out and about When Everything Can Be Ordered Online. Stay home, stay safe. It’s the only way.
Yep, Bloomberg pretty much came out and said that he was a special elite, again more Marxist garbage. Hollywood loves it though, useful idiots.
All rich people think that they are unique and above the law. Epstein proves that they are not unique at all.
FJBP
No thanks, Ive heard he has a boyfriend in Xhina. Dont wanna get caught up in that.
Unfortunate Illinois rezidents please support the various organizations fighting for your 2A RIGHTS.
NRA seems to be absent. Again.
Yes please do and all gun owners that value their Second Amendment Rights, not all do though apparently, should be financially supporting their favorite Second Amendment Civil Rights organizations and there are many good ones including the Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners of America plus local state organizations. Thanks to Pritzker’s vote buying scheme I found and extra $400 in my bank account just before the election. Well I have set that aside for contributions to Second Amendment Civil Rights organizations and have contributed over half of that with more going out soon. Any Fudds out there who thinks their bench rest rifles and shotguns are safe, think again and look at what the tiny tyrant up north is doing to the hunters in Canada.
not mentioned in this article, but nra has a voice in this as well.
https://youtu.be/oyXBqx9zQ5A
Powerful opinion by the trial court.
Multiple grounds found to knock the law down, which is going to make it hard to reverse. And without any meaningful legislative history, rotsa ruck coming up with historical evidence that satisfies the Bruen test, especially by an AG’s office apparently unable to even arrange representation. (This is truly an embarrassing clown show.)
I’ll bet this will be the first of many orders killing this goofy law.
I was just now watching Cspan with mayors of major cities discussing gunm violence and while I am all for reducing crime I was saddened to listen to the mayor of Buffalo speak as he couldn’t even finish a complete sentence without at least three “uhhs”. In the span of 1.5 minutes the leader of a large city with lots of crime uttered uhh 20 times. The man couldn’t form a complete sentence without uhh trying to convey a thought. Thank god for equality and hiring the handicapped.
big city “mayors” are generally ‘stupid’ once they get into office. they don’t actually ‘mayor’ as in a leader taking the helm completely, instead they have ‘staff’ that directs their ‘activity’.
So when they get into public and have to speak, if they have not been practiced and prompted by their staff in a ‘canned answer’ way you end up with lots of ‘disconnected’ (from something) logic and a ‘creative’ sense trying to make up answers that seem right to them. A symptom of this is using a lot of ‘uhhs’ and other ‘delaying pauses’, although some may not do it exactly like that and simply express it in logic disconnected from reality like its an affirming thing.
its a form of ‘confirmation bias’.
Lori Lightfoot is one such example with her logic on overall crime ‘disconnected’ from reality. And she compensates by stating it so affirmed like without realizing when its broken down and examined its not logical at all for being grounded in reality of the actual subject.
its the way most ‘progressives/liberals think, their whole perception is colored by it. its why dacian and Miner49er and Albert Hall are ignorant on the subjects here at TTAG without them realizing it, its that comfort of ‘confirmation bias’.
” Instead of looking like a worthy presidential candidate who can get things done, he looks more like a feckless blow-hard surrounded by incompetents.”
Ha, Ha, Ha, you mean just like our current President. Let’s Go Brandon
Comments are closed.