Illinois Review

Di Leo: Abortion and the Will of the People

By John F. Di Leo - 

Abortion has been at the forefront of American politics for 50 years, ever since the Supreme Court chose to nationalize the issue in Roe v. Wade, declaring that the federal government, as constructed by the Constitution, did indeed have a role to play in the question. 

The Court, as expressed by Associate Justice Harry Blackmun, determined that state laws against abortion may conflict with an expectant mother’s Constitutional “right to privacy” – a concept not actually found anywhere in the Constitution, but created for Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965. Under Roe v. Wade, the federal government can therefore split a pregnancy into three arbitrary timeframes – trimesters – in each of which, the states have various limited latitude to restrict the procedure. 

In 1992, after twenty years of ridicule, the Court finally admitted to the illogic of the arbitrary trimester distinctions in their decision on Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Here, they largely replaced the trimester concept with the idea that fetal viability should be the key point at which states and the federal government trade primary authority. And now, in 2022, with the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s 98-page draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, it looks likely that our nation’s abortion laws will be changing again. 

Di Leo: All Crime and No Punishment, from Chicago to Springfield

By John F. Di Leo - 

On Saturday, April 9, the most recent session of the Illinois State Legislature finished up its business by passing a bunch of "anti-crime" measures.

Note that the term "anti-crime" is in quotations. It has to be… because to the Democrat majority in Springfield, "anti-crime" measures exist to win votes on election day, not to make the streets safer.

Di Leo: A Good Week for the Criminal Element

By John F. Di Leo - 

It was a day for the record books, indeed.

With great fanfare from the Democratic Party's house organs, once known as the mainstream media, a "historic" vote was held at the U.S. Capitol, on Thursday, April 7, A.D. 2022:

By a majority vote of 53 to 47, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the first publicly pro-convict Associate Justice to be added to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Di Leo: Really, Now. Why Do We Interrogate Supreme Court Appointees?

By John F. Di Leo - 

Every time the Executive Branch nominates someone to the Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate schedules public hearings, in which they interrogate the nominee.

Senators ask the nominee what they think the Constitution means, what they think enumerated and non-enumerated rights are, when life begins.  Senators of the party that controls the White House throw softballs; senators of the opposition party ask tough questions.

This should be the opportunity for viewers at home to learn whether the nominee is a conservative or liberal – a true believer in our Founding Principles of limited government, or an advocate of the “living document” theory - someone who will honor his oath to uphold the Constitution, or someone who will utilize his newfound power to throttle it.

It should be such an opportunity… but it’s not.  In fact, we don’t learn any of this from the nominee when he or she is on the stand.  We learn next to nothing.

Di Leo: Keys, Cars, Crimes, Courtrooms ... and Ketanji Brown Jackson

By John F. Di Leo - 

I had an interesting experience at the car repair shop this weekend. Nothing big; it was just due for an oil change... but I was able to include one of the services I can't usually use: the free tire rotation. (I usually buy tires one at a time, thanks to potholes and nails, but for once, I actually replaced them as a set, so they could be rotated).

No such luck.  I couldn't get the rotation this time, because we appear to have lost the wheel lock key.

That's not such a big deal in itself; I can do without the tire rotation.  But it does mean I have to contact the manufacturer to order the right key, and I should do it quickly, in case of a flat tire (as previously mentioned, I am prone to such bad luck with cars).

And I got to thinking. A key to protect each tire. Why? And at what expense?

Di Leo: Joe Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and an Errant Nomination

By John F.  Di Leo - 

Once Associate Justice Stephen Breyer was successfully hounded into announcing his retirement (and we all wonder if the full story of that announcement will ever be told), Joe Biden announced that he would only be considering black females for the appointment.

Mr. Biden chose a tumultuous week to announce that name – a week in which Russia invaded Ukraine, energy prices hit new records, the stock market tumbled, and the news was finally starting to circulate that indictments were finally coming on the Obama-Clinton era “Russian collusion” hoax against President Trump. 

When the Biden-Harris regime most needed a distraction from all this, it hoped that a nice, high-profile “diversity hire” would turn the American mind toward something more positive.

The first judge nominated to fill Justice Breyer’s shoes is Ketanji Brown Jackson, and she meets Joe Biden’s rather brief list of qualifications perfectly:  She is indeed a black woman.

Illinois conservative lawmakers respond to SCOTUS decision on Biden vaccine mandate

US Supreme Court

SPRINGFIELD - Conservative state lawmakers responded to the US Supreme Court's ruling Thursday that stayed the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during the pendency of the 6th Circuit case.

The Court stated, “the Act empowers the Secretary to set workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures.”

Some conservative lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly issued statements in response to the ruling.

Di Leo: Crime and Consequences: A Holiday Tale

By John F. Di Leo - 

What does crime cost?

Big question, I know. But as we have just finished up one of the worst years for crime in American history, in terms of unexpected and painful growth of various types of crime, it is worth considering the human cost of this epidemic.

We can quote statistics until the cows come home, but eyes glaze over, and the impact may be lost. Numbers and percentages are just figures on spreadsheets and graphs, impersonal and unrelatable.

So, on this dawn of a new year, please allow me to share a personal experience with crime.

More, in the American Thinker, here:

Di Leo: Is Amazon Really Killing Brick-and-Mortar Retail?

Recent Oak Brook Louis Vuitton robbery - $100,000 

By John F. Di Leo - 

"Amazon is killing brick-and-mortar retail."

"Well, no, but... Amazon, Wish, and all those other online-only businesses are killing brick-and-mortar retail."

"Well, no, but... Amazon, Wish, all those other online-only businesses, plus a lot of brick-and-mortar businesses themselves, like the online stores run by Best Buy, Walmart, JC Penney, etc. etc., all put together, are killing brick-and-mortar retail."

For years, we have been told the above.… To explain why shopping malls and other brick and mortar retail is suffering so much today. It’s all a lie.

What’s killing brick and mortar retail is crime.

Cook County Commissioner calls for Kim Foxx to resign in light of Smollett verdict

ORLAND PARK IL - On Wednesday evening, the Cook County jury in the Jussie Smollett case rendered their verdict of guilty on five of the six felony charges against Mr. Smollett, stemming from the hate crime hoax he was found guilty of committing in early 2019.

Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison (17th) commented on the jury's decision and called for Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx - who was placed in office with the help of billionaire George Soros' campaign funding - to resign.

It took more than two years and a special prosecutor's investigation to finally bring this case to court for resolution. A case that received international attention and threw a harsh and critical spotlight on the city of Chicago and its residents, 

With the verdict finally rendered, what was almost lost in all of this is the serious question: "How did we get here and why?" Fortunately, members of the media have correctly raised this issue - one that needs to be addressed.

Commissioner Morrison then posted this Tweet by Chicago TV personality Ben Bradley: 

It's been made clear by the special prosecutor's investigation that Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx is also culpable in this detestable fiasco. Bravo to WGN News reporter Ben Bradley, who nailed this great point.

 

So the question remains, what happens next? It's very clear that Kim Foxx's office had its thumb squarely on the scale of justice for a celebrity friend. Elected officials in Cook County should muster their courage and call for her to resign, I’ll start!

 

In the interest of restoring professional integrity back to the Cook County State's Attorney Office and restoring the public's confidence, I call on Kim Foxx to resign from office immediately.

Foxx was re-elected in 2020 to another four years in office. 

Di Leo: Willie Horton and the Democratic Party's Greatest Fear

By John F. Di Leo - 

Reflections on Willie Horton and Michael Dukakis, Darrell Brooks and the city of Waukesha, and the modern Democratic Party's campaign to eliminate public safety once and for all...

At seventy years old, Willie Horton is serving multiple lifetime sentences in a Maryland prison.  His case was once famous enough that we can be reasonably certain that this recidivist monster will never again be released to commit another crime.

The nation is safe from Willie Horton.  

But the Democratic Party should not be.

More HERE, in the American Thinker. 

(photo: Darrell Brooks, the alleged perpetrator of the Waukesha Christmas Parade attacks)

 

 

 

 

Di Leo: Kyle Rittenhouse and the Streets of Kenosha

By John F Di Leo - 

The nation has been mesmerized by a televised trial in Wisconsin. A teenager is charged with murder for a case of clear self-defense…

THREE clear cases of self-defense, really.

The haters say that all that doesn’t matter, because he didn’t have to be there in the first place. He shouldn’t have gone. He shouldn’t have put himself in that position. He wouldn’t have had to defend himself, after all, if he were back home in Illinois, watching TV or playing video games, the way teenaged boys are supposed to spend their time, right?

I wonder how many Americans have heard this line of reasoning, and asked themselves the question, "Doesn’t that sound an awful lot like the victim-blaming commonly used regarding incidents of rape, mugging, and car break-ins?"

Bost discusses Dems' removal of Hyde Amendment in latest federal spending spree

Thorner: Could Biden's Taliban takeover be used by COVID Stasi?

By Nancy Thorner - 

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Ben Franklin.

There was Jimmy Carter's Iran incompetence, Hillary/Obama's Benghazi ineptitude, and now President Biden's junior high antics at Kabul.

Thousands of Afghans are struggling to ensure the physical safety of their families after the Taliban took control of the country have an additional worry.  It is that biometric databases and their own digital history can be used to track and target them. 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of “chilling” curbs on human rights and violations against women and girls.  On Monday, August 16, 2021, Amnesty International said thousands of Afghans – including academics, journalists and activists – were “at serious risk of Taliban reprisals.”

After years of a push to digitize databases in Afghanistan and introduce digital identity cards and biometrics for voting, these technologies can now be used to target and attack vulnerable groups. 

No, Trump Didn’t Create The Border Crisis. Democrats Did

Whether you agree with Trump’s immigration policies or not, Joe Biden and his team own this current border crisis--no one else. Chad Wolf writes:

President Joe Biden has essentially told the American people the buck does not stop at the Oval Office — at least not on the border crisis. Having dismantled many of the immigration policies the Trump administration used to regain control of our southern border, Biden administration officials now insist the current mess is somehow all Trump’s fault.

Thorner: Overview of Trump's Failed Second Impeachment Attempt

By Nancy Thorner - 

Republican US Senators Burr, Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, Romney, Sasse, and Toomey voted to impeach Donald Trump. Burr is retiring and taking one for the team, trying to pretend that the farce put on by the Democrats was persuasive and changed the vote of another “Republican.”

As to Burr’s retirement, Sen. Lindsey Graham said on “Fox News Sunday that GOP votes – especially that of Sen. Richard Burr to convict former President Donald Trump in the impeachment trial -- has opened the door for Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump.

She’s got a real shot at the North Carolina Senate race, Graham said.

Trump was totally right when he said: “It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree.”

Di Leo: Schooling, Safety, and Reality in the Age of Covid

By John F. Di Leo - 

The Chicago Public Schools have been closed for about a year now, but they finally got a deal.  Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles: they will finally return to the workplace, part time, for some early grades.  

Why the long delay?  Because the Chicago Teachers’ Union, like so many people across the country, have spent the past year primarily concerned about being “safe.” 

“Safe.”  Such an interesting word.  Its definition has been radically transformed, hasn’t it, in the twelve months since news began to leak out that the Chinese government was welding shut the doors and windows of Wuhan apartment buildings, sealing the fate of thousands of innocent victims, all from fear of the deadly new China Virus, known as the Wuhan Flu or Covid-19. 

UPDATE x1: IL Dems push through statewide "Defund the Police" bill in wee hours

UPDATE x1: Illinois Democrats - who hold the majority in both the House and Senate - pushed through this "Defund the Police" bill Wednesday morning at 4:30 am - hours before the 102nd General Assembly was sworn in. More information coming Friday on Illinois Review. 

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois' law enforcement community is warning Illinois citizens about a bill they say would effectively defund the police in Illinois. HB 163 could be heard in the state Senate as soon as Monday during the Illinois General Assembly's "lame duck" session that ends January 13. 

A coalition of law enforcement groups issued a statement late last week saying “reforms” that are part of House Bill 163 as amended would "destroy law enforcement's ability to keep communities safe." The authors of the legislation are not law enforcement professionals, the groups say, and the bill was drafted without law enforcement input, and because of that the "long-term unintended consequences of this legislation would be dire."

The Illinois Law Enforcement Coalition said they recently enumerated its Safe Communities plan, a sensible approach to modernizing Illinois law enforcement, but House Bill 163 as amended would lead to unsafe communities in Illinois.

"We urge the Illinois General Assembly to avoid making a sudden, rash decision in the Lame Duck Session and instead work carefully with all stakeholders to truly examine what needs to be done regarding law enforcement in Illinois," the group said.

The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge, FOP Labor Council, FOP Chicago Lodge 7, Illinois Sheriffs’ Association and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police formed the Illinois Law Enforcement Coalition and have been working on strategies since summer to improve community safety and enhance the trust between community members and law enforcement.

The leaders of the Illinois effort - the Democrats' Black Caucus - intends Illinois law enforcement changes to be dramatic. The Illinois Sheriffs' Association list the following 32 changes in the 611-page bill: 

Six Canadian elders fined $10k for service with more than 10 worshippers

ONTARIO, CANADA - Think that maybe the United States Constitution's First Amendment isn't so important? Think that what happens in Socialist Canada would never happen in Socialist Illinois? Ask these Canadian citizens of Ontario ... 

Six elders of a church in Ontario, Canada, have been asked to appear in a criminal court for holding in-person services in violation of COVID-19-related restrictions. The elders, who face a fine of up to $10,000, say the action is “a violation of God-given rights.”

The members of Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo were charged last week under Section 10.1 of the Reopening Ontario Act for exceeding the number of permitted people in attendance — 10 people indoors and 10 people outdoors — during a worship service on Dec. 27, according to CBC News.

Officers from the Waterloo Region Police Service visited the homes of the elders at night and gave them each a summons to court.

The church says no outbreak has been traced back to its services since they reopened in June. But they “have heard a plethora of stories from many of our congregants about how they were negatively affected spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and financially during the first lockdown,” the elders said in a statement.

More on the Christian Post

4 Madigan associates plead 'not guilty' to federal charges

CHICAGO - House Speaker Mike Madigan, who is commonly identified as Official A in an extensive federal investigation, had four of his closest political associates plead "not guilty" today in front of a federal court judge. 

Madigan has yet to be charged in the Commonwealth Edison bribery scheme being investigated by the US States Attorney for Northern Illinois. 

The four facing prosecution include longtime Madigan associate Mike McClain, former Com Ed head Anne Pramaggiore, John Hooker, and former City Club Chairman Jay Doherty - all will face trial beginning in March 2021. 

In light of this growing investigation, Republican State Rep. Amy Grant called for Madigan to resign from his State House seat. 

"As ‘Public Official A’ in the government’s sprawling case, Speaker Madigan is clearly at the epicenter of the U.S government’s corruption probe," Grant said in a statement. "It’s past time for Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan to resign; not just from the Speakership, but also from the House of Representatives."

Fifteen Democrats have stated they will not support Madigan for speaker in January. If that number holds firm, Madigan will likely not be re-elected as House Speaker.

Amy Coney Barrett Will Protect the Constitution

Amy Coney Barrett's judicial philosophy will protect the Constitution. Stephanie Taub writes:

Modern debates over judicial nominees, to our great national shame, seem to feature more attacks on the person than sincere deliberation about his or her professional credentials.

Missing is any reflection on the nominee’s judicial philosophy and demonstrated commitment to upholding the Constitution.

Di Leo: Musings on a Washington Circus

By John F. Di Leo - 

Reflections on the confirmation process, now and then... 

While watching the news this week, one was forced to ponder many things... the Supreme Court, the United States Senate, the wonders of the internet, and how far we have fallen as a nation. 

We have more information at our fingertips today than anyone ever had in generations before.  Questions might take hours in a library to research, staring at encyclopedias, digging through dusty old reference books, even squinting to read old periodicals on microfiche. 

Such methods still exist, for data not yet digitized, but 90% of what we need is now available online at the click of a mouse. There is no longer any excuse for being ignorant of the process, the issues of the day, or the big names in the news.  Everything is literally at our fingertips. 

 

Thorner: Fill Ginsburg's seat before November 3

By Nancy Thorner - 

When Trump first ran for office in 2016, I made it a point to watch most of the Trump rallies.  So far in 2020, I have a perfect record viewing Trump rallies.

Unlike the 2016 Trump rallies, the 2000 rallies are being held at airports instead of large arenas, etc.  Also, instead of being called rallies, Trump refers to them as "peaceful" protests.

Because Fox News, unlike in 2016, seldom broadcasts Trump rallies in full, by Googling, we can view every Trump rally starting two hours before the rally is scheduled to begin, where young reporters working for the network conduct interviews and present a running, informative commentary to thousands of assembled, enthusiastic Trump supporters sporting an array of Trump paraphernalia.

The excitement builds to a fever pitch when Air Force One is seen on the horizon, assuring those gathered -- many having waited hours for this moment -- when Trump will be mounting the podium to give one of his trademark, fiery and entertaining speeches.  Often lasting for 1-1/2 hours, Trump's supporters remain mesmerized during the entire time. Unlike Biden, Trump only occasionally opts to use his teleprompter, mostly when when nearing the end of his ad lib remarks.

I first heard of Ruth Bader Ginsberg's death when listening to a Trump rally held at the airport in Bemidji, MN on Friday, September 18, 2020, when a caption came across my TV screen that Justice Ginsburg had died at 87 years old.  Trump was well into his speech at the time of the alert, receiving the news after his departure from the staging area.

Di Leo: A Supreme Vacancy, A Nervous Punditry, and Four Months Left on the Clock

By John F. Di Leo - 

In this most unusual of years, a new question has arisen:  When do you start working for a new job, and when do you stop?

For many of us “wage slaves,” this may seem to go without saying:  you start at 8:00am on your first day of work, and you keep on working until 5:00pm on your last day, when you punch out for the final time.

Our bosses expect us to put in a full day, every day; to do less is to cheat one’s employer.  If we’re being paid, we put in the work. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?

Byrne: Preckwinkle & Co "politically poison" non-compliant Cook Co judge

CHICAGO - Long-respected commentator Dennis Byrne has agreed for Illinois Review to showcase parts of his valuable insight to our readers, and we're delighted. Byrne rates among the most knowledgeable writers on the history and inside of Illinois politics.

Byrnes is writing these days as proprietor of "The Barbershop," where he rarely holds back punches about the good and the bad of Illinois politics. 

Yesterday, for instance, he wrote in "Illinois and Cook County still ain't ready for reform. Neither is Chicago," these scathing words about how nasty and vindictive the Democrats' Chicago Machine can be:  

Preckwinkle and Evans engineered  a Kremlin-like political poisoning of  Cook County Judge Michael Toomin because he ordered a special prosecutor to investigate State's Attorney Kim Foxx’s handing Jesse Smollet a get-out-of-jail free card. Preckwinkle led the move to not endorse Toomin for retention in the coming election even though, as John Kass noted, the judge is 'a well-respected, veteran judge.'

...

They now have embraced the same autocratic methods of Richard J. Daley and the demonic Democratic machine, punishing those who are 'disloyal' and who put the public interest ahead of party subservience.

Which leads to Mike Madigan and his most commonly used ploys to maintain his unrelenting grip on Illinois. 

Read about it HERE. 

Di Leo: From Local Riots to Societal Collapse, From Paris to Kenosha

By John F Di Leo -

Politicians have an old joke – maybe too truthful and unfunny to be called a joke – about the politician who sees a crowd marching along, and mutters to himself, “I’d better find out where they’re going, so I can wriggle my way to the front and lead them there.”

This date in history, August 26, holds a worthwhile lesson on this subject.  It was on August 26, 1789, when the Marquis de Lafayette and the Abbe Saiyes (allegedly with lots of advice from the USA ambassador to France, Thomas Jefferson), published their Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, designed to be one of the cornerstones of the French Revolutionary government.

They didn’t intend for the French Revolution to be a bloodbath, after all.  Much of the French nobility was honestly trying to do the right thing, to gradually and responsibly guide the country toward republican governance under a figurehead monarch.  They thought the Paris mob, already visibly dangerous from their ghastly behavior at the practically-empty Bastille, could be controlled, their energy harnessed in support of this worthy goal.

Di Leo: The First Amendment and the Challenge of Bias

By John F. Di Leo - 

A July 2 article began as follows: 

“A 25-year-old Arlington Heights man is accused of aggravated kidnapping and sexual abuse, among other charges, according to the Arlington Heights Police Department.” 

In journalism, the leading paragraph is known as the “lede” - with its own distinctive spelling, perhaps to signify how important it is to the process of newswriting. The rule is that it summarizes the most important elements of the article, because, as writers hate to admit but know all too well, not all readers will read the whole thing. 

Di Leo: Ten Percent and Counting – the Predictable Recidivism of COVID-19’s Ex-Cons

By John F. Di Leo -

When much of this nation started embarking on unprecedented shutdowns in March – closing our factories, our stores, our restaurants and schools… evacuating our hospitals to make room for the millions of patients that were sure to flood them in a matter of days, as soon as the CCP Virus caught on – one of the oddest choices that some state governments made was to set their prisoners free.

The peculiar, misguided fear that criminals in jail might catch this virus prompted certain hard leftist governors – New York’s Cuomo, Washington’s Inslee, California’s Newsom, Illinois' Pritzker, and others – to throw open the prison gates. They flooded their own communities with these known, proven criminals, people in jail for committing crimes - not just minor transgressions, but the kind that actually result in years behind bars, even in these permissive, forgiving states. (Remember, when studying their rap sheets, that criminals are usually cataloged under lesser crimes than the ones they actually committed, due to plea bargaining).

Plenty of voices opposed the idea, of course, but Republicans are a muzzled minority in such states, and the local press usually serves as house organs for the state Democratic party, so few listened to these warnings.

Project 21 Black Activists condemn nationwide rioting; applaud designating Antifa a terrorist group

Example of rioting destruction on Chicago's Magnificent Mile - photo by Mark Weyermuller 

WASHINGTON DC. – Saying people need to "stop rationalizing and excusing criminal activity," members of the Project 21 black leadership network condemned the politically motivated riots that have erupted across America, and applaud the possibility of Antifa being designated a domestic terrorist organization. 

Project 21 members condemned "the irrational, counterproductive and politically motivated nature of those rioting after the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis," according to a press release.

Pritzker to face another lawsuit - this one from Will County

MOKENA - Will County Board member Steve Balich says in a YouTube Wednesday that he just left his attorney's office - Bruggemann & Hurst in Mokena Illinois - after filing a federal lawsuit against Governor Pritzker and the state of Illinois for damages.  

Will County GOP Chairman George Pearson, Will County Board member Steve Balich, pet groomer Samantha L. Palya, a non-essential worker Amanda Hameran are all co-plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed with the US District Court Northern District of Illinois - Eastern Division.

"I've gotten all kinds of calls from businesses complaining about why they're not open," Balich said. "I don't have a good answer. People are suffering, people of my district are crying out to me to do something. So I filed this lawsuit." 

Pritzker faces lawsuits from two Republican lawmakers, as well as three Springfield business people: a hair salon owner and a restaurateur with two establishments. The cases argue the governor has neither constitutional nor statutory power to implement consecutive 30-day COVID-19 state of emergency orders. 

The Will County complaint focuses on the US Constitution's Fifth Amendment and the state of Illinois' Article 1, Section 15: 

Plainfield Law Firm says Pritzker's EOs impair fundamental rights; points to Obama-sponsored law

Updated Tuesday, May 12th - 

CHICAGO - In 2004, when state senator in Illinois, former President Barack Obama sponsored legislation that led to the "Illinois Emergency Management Act" - the same Illinois Department of Public Health policy guideline from which Governor JB Pritzker claims to have derived authority to issue his COVID-19 Executive Order 2020-10. 

Obama's 2004 legislation passed the Illinois Senate and House unanimously - but the key points of his bill placed epidemic guidance into the hands of the Illinois Department of Public Health, not the governor's office.

In a piece entitled "Barack Obama’s Sponsored Law Makes Governor Pritzker’s Stay-at-Home Orders Advisory," the Ivec Law Firm of Plainfield, Illinois suggests Pritzker's Executive Orders threaten Constitutional rights.

"To put into our context, Governor Pritzker has issued executive orders which impair a number of fundamental rights," Ivec's legal assessment says.

The Illinois Emergency Management Act - in Illinois statutes as 20 ILCS 3305/18 - states that emergency services and disaster agencies established under the act shall execute and enforce the orders, rules and regulations as may be made by the Governor. However, it does not say the citizens or businesses of our State are under the same obligation. [Ed.notation added]

"In short, the Governor cannot exercise more authority than that given to the Illinois Department of Public Health, who is the supreme authority in matters of quarantine and isolation," Ivec Law Firm says. "This power is limited by our Constitution and by both Statute and Regulations."

Di Leo: The Boy Scout Bankruptcy and American Tradition

By John F. Di Leo - 

The Boy Scouts of America have filed for bankruptcy protection. While they may survive in some revised form, smaller and weaker than before, the Boy Scouts of old, as a great institution in American life, may be no more.

Frankly, they have been on a downward trajectory for some time. In a world in which consumer-electronics, from cell phones to game consoles, have taken over the entertainment options for children, modernity itself contributed greatly to the Boy Scouts’ decline.

But there is a difference between a weakening and a destruction… a difference between the natural loss of popularity and a concerted effort to destroy.

Di Leo: St. Valentine's Day's Lesson for the Ages

By John F. Di Leo - 

Across the country, Saint Valentine’s Day is thought of as one of the great romantic date nights… unless you grow up as a Chicago Italian, in which case a very different kind of event comes to mind.

At 10:30 AM on February 14, 1929, at a usually quiet garage located at 2122 N Clark Street, one of the most memorable and defining dates in Chicago history occurred, when seven mobsters of the North Side Gang were killed by four other mobsters from a rival gang who were impersonating Chicago police officers.

The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre is remembered as a cultural moment, one that defines 1920s Chicago.  It has long been cited by libertarians in their argument against prohibition, and has been a treasure trove for Hollywood screenwriters ever since.

Di Leo: Immigration, the Welfare State, and the Public Charge Rule

By John F. Di Leo -

Through a temporary stay of a lower court’s action, which is usually a signal about what they will decide in the end, the Supreme Court has hinted that it will soon settle one of those obvious questions that never should have needed to go to the Supreme Court in the first place:

In confirming the “public charge rule” in DHS v. NY, SCOTUS will confirm that a President of the United States has the right to refuse green cards to applicants for immigration who would be virtually certain to be dependent on welfare if we let them in.

In light of DMV voter registration "mistake," should Sec of State White resign?

CHICAGO - Should someone at the top of the Department of Motor Vehicles step down in light of the revelation that 574 non-citizens were "mistakenly" registered to vote last year? Illinois Review is running a survey on our Facebook page - asking their readers if Secretary of State Jesse White should resign.

Thus far overwhelmingly, participants are saying "Yes, White should resign." Voice your opinion.

DHS Strategy on Human Trafficking Aims to Put Issue Front and Center

Americans need to be talking more about the problem of human trafficking in order to successfully combat it, the nation’s acting homeland security secretary says. 

“We as Americans, again, are not talking enough about this issue,” Chad Wolf said during an event Wednesday at The Heritage Foundation, adding:

"Refugees" and "immigrants" - the same, or very different in Illinois?

Sign located on a Pilsen neighborhood church in Chicago

WEST CHICAGO - Immigration could be a key issue in Chicago's western suburbs next November as Republicans fight to retake control of the U.S. House. But a letter in response to President Trump's executive order concerning refugee placement has opened the discussion in Illinois' purple DuPage County.

Earlier this week, President Trump told a group of young conservatives at a conference in West Palm Beach, "We believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not for criminal aliens. The open borders agenda of the radical left causes profound harm to poor, working-class Americans."

The debate erupting in DuPage County Illinois has come down to determining the difference between the terms "refugees" and "immigrants." If they're one and the same, Republican DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin is giving conservatives the impression he is shrugging off President Trump's views on protecting law-abiding Americans.

Wheaton Students Suing City of Chicago for Restricting Free Speech

Four Wheaton College students are suing the City of Chicago for its violation of their Constitutional right to free speech. The plaintiffs, Matt Swart, Jeremy Chong, Gabriel Emerson, and Caedon Hood, argue that certain aspects of Millennium Park’s rules severely hinder First Amendment rights for all within a public forum.

According to new Millennium Park rules which were made public on April 2, 2019, visitors must secure permits to discuss religion or partake in any other speech or display, and even then can only do so in one corner of the Park, away from central activities. The rules also state without explanation that one visitor may not disrupt another’s enjoyment of amenities or performances in any way, which opens the opportunity for a situation in which essentially anyone can shut down speech or activities they deem offensive.

Pierce: When Vocabulary Aids Those Who Degrade Society

By Sam Pierce - 

Perhaps some of us on the right struggle with vocabulary more than others. Some can speak or write eloquently and impact policy or its perception. Still others string words together in an artful yet shallow manner. it really does seem that vocabulary and phraseology are often stumbling blocks or at least challenges to effective communication of arguments for life, liberty, and property.

The challenge presents itself on multiple fronts. The most egregious and dastardly of these are the intentional misleading abuse of language by the enemies of society on the left. The trickiest challenge, though, comes from the actual broad definitions of politically charged words such as abortion, immigrant, and gender.

Pot Promoters' ad paints Illinois entering "Age of Aquarius"

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois appears to be entering the "Age of Aquarius" where "harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust" abound - at least that's what pot promoters are giddy about.

Pot promoters "Protect 30" are running ads on Facebook that delight in both Democrats and Republicans supporting their effort to get rich quick by legalizing marijuana consumption in Illinois. 

It's going to be great in Illinois with marijuana everywhere - the black market will end, jobs will be created, tax revenue generated, and pot smokers will no longer go to jail. How much better can things get? their ads convey.

Employers' liability for IL employee toxic substance exposure now longer than 25 years

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Trial lawyers won another victory last week when Governor Pritzker signed into law a bill that expands the state's workers' compensation program - making an already-dreaded liability monster even bigger and more powerful. Pritzker signed SB 1596, lengthening the time for which Illinois employers will be responsible for employees' medical conditions connected with toxic substance exposure.  
 
The new law lifts the 25-year statute of limitation on claims for people diagnosed with latent diseases after exposure to toxic substances (such as asbestos, radiation, beryllium) in the workplace. And that's a good thing, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association says.

Thorner: The so-called "Equality Act" is really an "anti-Christian Act"

Almost half of states and hundreds of local governments have adopted laws enshrining "sexual orientation and gender identity" protections. But under the Equality Act bill, the policy would go national, and would be forced on churches, domestic-abuse shelters, Christian schools, and much more.

By Nancy Thorner - 

The Equality Act was jointly introduced in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate on March 13, 2019, with the support of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, national civil rights organizations (including the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and the Human Rights Campaign), international human rights organizations (including Human Rights Watch), major professional associations (including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Bar Association), and major businesses (including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, IBM, Facebook, Twitter, Visa, Mastercard, Intel, and Netflix).

Rossi: Legal Pot - the Last Nail in Illinois’ Coffin

By Randy Rossi - 

Dear fellow Illinoisans, have we all gone insane?

We have allowed our crooked politicians to almost destroy the once magnificent “Land of Lincoln” by our ignorance and voter apathy. Because of that ignorance and apathy, Illinois has become the most bankrupt state in the Union with the lowest bond ratings in America.

On top of that, we have seen more governors that we elected sent to prison than any other state! Even a high level FBI executive said Illinois is the most politically crooked state in America. And because of all that insanity and corruption, people and jobs are fleeing Illinois. And to make all that worse, our new governor wants you to allow him to change the Illinois Constitution so that he can tax even more of your money.

You know, he is the governor that took the toilets out of his house to pay less real-estate taxes!

Di Leo: Closing the Book on Mueller Investigation, Writing Chapters to Come

By John F. Di Leo -

After over two years, the dust is finally settling on the Mueller investigation.  The report is out, and it clearly shows what all but the uninformed and the most partisan leftists knew all along: Not only was the allegation of Trump-Russia collusion poppycock from the beginning, but more importantly, the very investigation was unfounded, a hit job that its instigators planned as a sort of internal coup, designed to either take down the administration through a framed impeachment or to utterly hamstring the Trump-Pence administration and reduce its effectiveness.

There is much yet to be done, and it is clear that William Barr was the right man for the job of Attorney General at this point.  We need to investigate the investigators – to determine exactly who, and how many, were responsible for turning the federal bureaucracy into a political weapon.  Some have acted more like the secret police of the communist world, or like the dirty cops who sometimes plant evidence and convict the innocent in our own cities, shaming an otherwise honorable profession with their tyranny.

Thorner: Beware state lawmakers pushing legalized pot

By Nancy Thorner - 

Public town hall events are currently being held throughout Illinois with one purpose: to advance legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults.

The Highland Park Library, hosted by the City of Highland Park, sponsored a town hall discussion Saturday, April 13, from 10-11:30 a.m. In the announcement blurb, individuals of all viewpoints were encouraged to attend to ask questions and learn all about the proposed cannabis legislation. About 100 attended. 

The panel included Representative Bob Morgan (D - 58th District); Senator Julie Morrison (D - 29th District); and State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago), sponsor of Senate Bill 7.  It has been two years since the Steans/Cassidy bill legalizing recreational pot was first introduced in Illinois.

Following brief introductions by Representative Bob Morgan and Senator Julie Morrison, Senator Heather Steans gave a Power Point presentation on Cannabis Legalization, designed to convince those in attendance that Illinois knows what it is doing, and that its recreational marijuana program will be well designed for positive results.  As Steans suggested, in some states legalization of recreational marijuana was achieved by referendum.  Doing it legislatively in Illinois is the better way, she said, as it will reflect the feedback received over the past twenty-four months.

Could Trump be banned from Illinois' 2020 ballot?

CHICAGO - Could President Trump be banned from being included on Illinois' 2020 primary or general election ballot?  It's possible, if the Democrat majority in the Illinois General Assembly has their way. 

This week, the Illinois Senate passed along party lines a bill that would require presidential and vice-presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to be on the Illinois ballot. The requirement does not include other federal or state candidates.

Di Leo: Crime & Punishment: Lasting Effects of the Russian Collusion Hoax

By John F. Di Leo - 

It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was only a couple years ago that we learned that the U.S. Department of Justice had opened up an investigation to determine whether or not Donald Trump was actually a Russian agent... an investigation that has dominated our news cycle 24/7 ever since.

It was so ludicrous, it was difficult for some of us to take it seriously, but it was a real investigation, so it had to have some foundation. It just HAD to.

Two years later, the Mueller Commission presented its report to the Attorney General, acknowledging that there was nothing there. Not just that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to bring a case against the President, but more importantly, Americans have connected the dots and understood that it was a hoax all along, that it was never justified in the least, that the charges were based on a fabricated dossier created by crooked foreign players for a Democratic Party political campaign, that it represented a gross abuse of the Patriot Act's FISA court structure and a warping of the very mission of the DoJ.

Di Leo: A Tale of Two Hoaxes: Smollett's vs Mueller's

Should such a crime – the entire Mueller Commission, its advocates and its publicists – be simply swept under the rug and be forgotten?

By John F. Di Leo - 

When I was a youngster – shall we say, college through my teens – I occasionally exceeded posted speed limits. Not all the time, of course, and not so wildly to be a danger to the road, but often enough that I got to know Chicago’s “supervision” program rather well.

In Cook County, there is a time-honored tradition that minor traffic offenses – almost always speeding tickets – can be disposed of by going to court and saying “I’d like to stipulate guilt, your honor, and request court supervision in recognition of my otherwise excellent driving record.”

El Paso widow recalls husband's 2015 disappearance, pleads for Border Wall

EL PASO - "Moms for America" visited with a woman in El Paso that lost her husband to violent drug cartels that invaded their ranch on the Mexican border. 

On behalf of Moms for America, Will County's Debbie Kraulidis interviewed Liz Uribe-Sinclair, whose husband disappeared in 2015 after Mexican gang members threatened him for testifying against them in a crime case.

28 Illinois nursing homes fined during 2018's last quarter

One of 28 nursing homes fined in 2018's last quarter

SPRINGFIELD – Twenty-eight Illinois nursing homes violated the state's Nursing Home Care Act during the last three months of 2018, a report from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) said this week. The fines were made public on the IDPH's website.

The facilities listed below were cited with type “A” violations of the Nursing Home Care Act and processed between October-December 2018.  An “A” violation pertains to a condition in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious mental or physical harm will result, or has resulted.

A facility may contest an assessment of a penalty by sending a written request to the Department for hearing, IDPH spokesperson Melaney Arnold said in an email. Upon receipt of the request the Department shall hold a hearing.

Instead of a hearing a facility may, Illinois law says, within 10 business days after receipt of the notice of violation and fine assessment, transmit to the Department 65% of the amount assessed for each violation specified in the penalty assessment.