Federal Judge Says Legal Challenge to Evanston’s Reparations Program Can Proceed

A legal challenge to the first-ever reparations plan in America can move forward after a federal judge declined a motion to dismiss it. A U.S. district court judge, John Kness, has denied a motion from the city of Evanston, Illinois, to dismiss a lawsuit from Judicial Watch. In 2019, Evanston became the first city in America to pass a slavery reparations plan. The program offers $25,000 payments to black residents and descendants of black residents who lived at Evanston between 1919 and 1969.So far, 137 people have received reparations payments totaling about $3.47 million. City leaders have voiced concerns that the program needs a new funding source as the cannabis tax revenue that was supposed to fund the plan has brought in less than expected.However, Judicial Watch’s lawsuit has raised questions about the program’s future overall. Judicial Watch argued in its 2024 lawsuit that the program relies on race as an eligibility criterion, which it says violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.Evanston argued that the plaintiffs lack standing because they did not apply for the program, and the application window closed in 2021. The city also said that the plaintiffs would have been rejected for reasons other than race because they did not have ties to property in the city. Judge Kness took issue with the city’s argument that the plaintiffs should have applied, writing that applying for a program that “limits eligibility on the basis of immutable race characteristics would have been a futile gesture.”“Given Plaintiffs’ well-pleaded allegations and the apparent futility of any application they might otherwise have submitted, Plaintiffs’ alleged deterrence by race-based criterion is sufficient to establish Article III injury in fact at the pleading stage,” he said. “Accordingly, the motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) is denied.”In a statement, the president of Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, said, “The Constitution forbids race-based government programs like this. We welcome the court’s decision to allow this historic lawsuit to move forward against this woke, racist program.”The chairwoman of the Evanston Reparations Committee, Robin Sue Simmons, told the Pioneer Press, “The struggle continues.”“The city of Evanston will continue to administer its program, honoring its commitment to redress, and continuing disbursements for reparations,” she said. The reparations committee is scheduled to meet again on April 2 to discuss alternative funding methods.

Federal Judge Says Legal Challenge to Evanston’s Reparations Program Can Proceed

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