By CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked for a second time to decide whether a state law requiring gun owners to have a firearm permit is unconstitutional – a question the court previously declined to answer.

The case involves a White County resident, Vivian Claudine Brown, who was charged in March 2017 with possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner’s Identification, or FOID card.

A circuit judge in White County threw out the charge, saying the Illinois law requiring potential gun owners to fill out a form, provide a picture ID, undergo a background check and pay a $10 fee to obtain a FOID card was unconstitutional, at least as it applied to Brown. The judge said it imposed a burden on Brown’s Second Amendment right to keep a firearm in her own home for self-defense.

The circuit court went on to say, even though Brown’s attorneys never raised the issue, that it is impossible to comply with the act in one’s own home. That’s because it would mean anybody who had knowledge of a firearm in the home and exclusive control over the area where it was kept could be construed as possessing the gun and therefore would have to have their FOID card on their person 24 hours a day.

The state appealed that decision directly to the state Supreme Court, but in April 2020, the high court declined to answer the question of the law’s constitutionality. Instead, it said the White County court had rushed to rule on the law’s constitutionality when it could have decided the case on other grounds, namely that the General Assembly never intended the FOID Card Act to apply in the home.

The Supreme Court then sent the case back to White County with instructions to enter a modified order that did not touch on the constitutionality question.

The White County court did that, but then in an unusual move, Brown’s attorneys asked the court to reconsider, arguing that the modified order forced Brown to take a position she didn’t want to take and one that would ultimately be overturned on appeal, thus delaying any final resolution of the case, possibly for years.

The circuit court agreed and reinstated the charges against her. Brown’s attorneys then filed a new motion to dismiss on constitutional grounds. The judge then upheld that motion, finding that “any fee associated with exercising the core fundamental Constitutional right of armed self-defense within the confines of one’s home violates the Second Amendment.”

The state then appealed that decision back to the Illinois Supreme Court. The court took the case under advisement and hosted oral arguments this week but did not indicate how long it might take to issue a decision.

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PRISONER REVIEW BOARD: On Monday, March 14, Gov. JB Pritzker pulled the appointment of Max Cerda to the Prisoner Review Board as it appeared not to have enough Senate support.

Cerda was convicted of a double murder when he was 16 years old, paroled in 1998 and began working with ex-offenders in Chicago to help them transition to life outside of prison. Pritzker appointed him to the PRB in 2021.

The governor also sent a letter Monday to the state senators in charge of the appointment process urging action on his outstanding appointments.

The PRB appointment process has come under scrutiny by Republican members of the Senate in the past year as several PRB members are serving without Senate confirmation.

“It is critical to both public safety and justice that the Senate Executive Appointments Committee act on this so that this board can fully function,” Pritzker said in a letter dated March 15.

A copy of the letter addressed to Sen. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, and Sen. Jason Plummer, R-Edwardsville, was obtained by Capitol News Illinois. The letter urged the Executive Appointments Committee, which Murphy chairs, to act on the appointments.

“Without the adequate number of members, one of the key PRB functions that will be jeopardized is the responsibility for conducting final revocation hearings. This function is not often reported on, but it is essential for public safety,” Pritzker wrote.

Pritzker was referring to the revocation hearings for offenders who have re-entered the Illinois Department of Corrections because they have violated the conditions of their parole. Final revocation hearings must occur within 90 days of the date the offender returns to IDOC custody. If the hearing is not held in time, the offender will be released and deemed not to be in violation of their parole.

There were 4,595 revocation hearings last year, according to the letter, and hearings across the state are held 15 to 20 times per month. Three board members must be present at each hearing, according to state law, and as many as three such hearings are scheduled in different parts of the state on the same day.

Thus, Pritzker said in the letter, approval of his appointees is needed to ensure all meetings have the minimum number of members. 

The governor’s office said any questions about timing of appointees should be directed to the Senate.

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WAGE SUBSIDIES: Members of the Workers Center for Racial Justice held a rally in front of the Capitol Wednesday morning, March 16, demanding the Illinois General Assembly pass House Bill 3215, dubbed the Safer Communities Act. 

The measure offers job providers wage subsidies for hiring formerly incarcerated individuals at a living wage over a five-year period.

Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, said that when people come home after being institutionalized, their “second sentence” begins due to lack of opportunities and programs in place to help them integrate back into the community. 

The bill’s current status as of Thursday was “re-referred to Rules Committee,” a legislative designation that generally means such a measure is unlikely to move, at least in the current General Assembly. But the advocates urged that the program be included in the final budget package.

The bill would provide a living wage job creation program for up to 20,000 formerly incarcerated workers for the duration a five-year pilot incentive period, which would begin on March 1, 2023, and end on Feb. 28, 2028. It would allow businesses that hire formerly incarcerated individuals on a union contract or at a wage of $20 hourly plus benefits to receive wage subsidies for those employees.

A maximum of 10,000 participants would consist of individuals released from prison on or after Jan. 1, 2022. The other 10,000 participants would consist of individuals released from prison between Jan. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2021.

The businesses would receive a $1,250 monthly wage subsidy for an employee hired in a “disproportionately impacted area,” meaning a census tract with high rates of arrest, conviction and incarceration among residents, and $850 monthly in other areas.

The bill caps the expenditures during the five-year incentive period at $1.5 billion. If requests exceed that amount, subsidies would be given on a first-come-first-served basis.

Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, said investing back in Black and brown communities and building the local economy through the living wage job creation program could help end mass incarceration.

According to the data from the Illinois Department of Corrections, as of Dec. 31, 2021, there were 27,970 people in prison. More than half, 15,204 or 54.4% of those individuals, were Black, according to the data.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government that is distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.