Federal lawsuit challenges new limits on contributions to Illinois judicial candidates

A former Illinois lawyer who retired to Texas and two conservative political motion committees filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday difficult not too long ago permitted restrictions on marketing campaign contributions to judicial candidates in Illinois on First Modification grounds.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court docket in Chicago by the conservative Liberty Justice Middle on behalf of John Matthew Chancey, Honest Courts America and Restoration PAC, comes three months earlier than Illinois voters will solid ballots in two state Supreme Court docket races that may decide whether or not Democrats preserve their 4-3 majority on the state’s highest court docket.

In search of to protect Democratic management of all three branches of state authorities, Democrats within the legislature permitted a measure final yr that bars judicial candidates from receiving marketing campaign money from out-of-state contributors and teams that don’t disclose their donors.

This yr, lawmakers permitted one other measure that bans contributions in extra of $500,000 per election cycle from a single supply to impartial expenditure committees set as much as assist or oppose judicial candidates.

Of their lawsuit, Chancey and the PACs argue that each legal guidelines violate free-speech rights established in circumstances together with the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s landmark Residents United determination, which opened the door to limitless political contributions.

“The Supreme Court docket has acknowledged that contributions to political campaigns are protected speech, and thus a authorities should show that restrictions on marketing campaign contributions go First Modification scrutiny,” the lawsuit says. “Right here, the 2 restrictions on contributions in judicial races can not meet this check.”

The lawsuit, which names the Illinois State Board of Elections and Lawyer Common Kwame Raoul as defendants, asks the federal court docket to grant a preliminary injunction blocking the restrictions and to overturn them as unconstitutional.

In arguing towards the restrictions, the lawsuit says the state legislation unconstitutionally prohibits Chancey, who practiced legislation from 1978 till retiring in 2016, from contributing to associates and acquaintances working for seats on the bench.

Likewise, Honest Courts America and Restoration PAC, which share a Downers Grove handle and have the identical committee treasurer, in keeping with federal marketing campaign finance data, argue that they’re being disadvantaged of the power to boost and spend extra $500,000 supporting or opposing judicial candidates this yr, which they contend violates the First Modification.

As of June 30, Restoration PAC had practically $436,000 within the financial institution, whereas Honest Courts America had just below $30,000 readily available and excellent money owed of $272,000, all in loans from Restoration, in keeping with Federal Election Fee data.

Restoration PAC was based by businessman Doug Traux, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination of U.S. Senate in 2014.

Whereas there may be some authorized precedent for tighter restrictions on marketing campaign fundraising in judicial races, the lawsuit argues that the brand new Illinois legislation goes past the permissible steps to forestall corruption and protect the integrity of the courts.

Exterior of judicial races, state legislation permits impartial expenditure committees to boost and spend limitless sums supporting or opposing candidates, as long as they don’t coordinate straight with any marketing campaign.

“It’s apparent that Illinois politicians have handed legal guidelines making an attempt to disenfranchise their opponents by proscribing their political speech,” Truax stated in an announcement. “That’s unconstitutional and anti-American and each legal guidelines should be struck down instantly.”

State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich declined to touch upon the pending lawsuit, and a spokeswoman for the lawyer normal’s workplace didn’t reply late Wednesday.

The lawsuit comes after billionaire Ken Griffin gave $6.25 million to a different impartial expenditure committee, Residents for Judicial Equity, earlier than the brand new legislation limiting particular person contributions took impact in Might.

Illinois has a historical past of record-setting spending on judicial races, highlighted by the profitable 2020 marketing campaign to unseat Democratic Supreme Court docket Justice Thomas Kilbride.

Kilbride and the primary group opposing his retention collectively raised greater than $11.7 million, the most costly retention vote on file nationally.

Kilbride’s removing from the bench set off a sequence of occasions that led the Democratic-controlled Common Meeting to attract new boundaries for the state’s 5 judicial districts in an effort to protect their social gathering’s court docket majority.

On the Nov. 8 poll, Democratic Lake County Affiliate Decide Elizabeth “Liz” Rochford faces Republican Mark Curran, the previous Lake County sheriff, within the race for the Supreme Court docket seat within the new 2nd Judicial District, which incorporates Lake, McHenry, DeKalb, Kane and Kendall counties.

Within the new third Judicial District, comprising DuPage, Will and Kankakee counties, appointed Republican Justice Michael J. Burke faces Democratic Appellate Decide Mary Ok. O’Brien.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com