2013 4 2 league of women voters of chicago - complaint
DESCRIPTION
A federal lawsuit claims the new Chicago ward redistricting map violates the federal constitutional rights of Chicago voters. The lawsuit seeks a neutral process to divide the wards equally by population in a manner that will be fair, impartial and protect minority voting rights.TRANSCRIPT
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CHICAGO, ) JODI BIANCALANA, BRUCE CROSBY, ) WILLIAM K. CROSBY, STEPHANIE CROWELL, ) IGNAZIA ANGELA DAIDONE, JIM IGNATOWSKI, ) GERALD A. JUDGE, AMELIA KABAT, ERNIE ) LUKASIK, KEITH MCDONALD, ROBERT MCKAY, ) No. 13-cv-2455 LYNN SEERMON, PATRICIA SWINDLE, and ) ALONSO ZARAGOZA, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) Jury Demanded ) v. ) ) CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, ) ) Defendant. )
COMPLAINT
Introduction
1. Plaintiffs challenge the unlawful early implementation by the defendant City of
Chicago of a new ward redistricting plan and challenge the legality of the redistricting plan itself
under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and under Illinois law. The
purpose of the new redistricting plan for the 2015 elections is to entrench the majority of City
Council members in their current offices. The purpose of the plan’s immediate implementation is
to give the incumbents an unfair electoral edge by allowing an unlawful “early bird”
representation of the persons voting in the next City Council elections in 2015. However,
because the City has put in effect immediately the new ward boundaries, the individual plaintiffs
and members of the plaintiff association, League of Women Voters of Chicago, are being
represented by persons they did not elect. As a result, and in violation of 42 U.S.C. §1983, the
defendant, the City of Chicago, is acting under color of law to deny plaintiffs their right to vote
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and to be represented by City Council members of their own choosing under the Equal
Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Such early
implementation is also in violation of state law, namely, 65 ILCS 20/21-36 and Article I, Section
2 and Article III, Section 4 of the Illinois Constitution.
2. In further violation of 42 U.S.C. §1983, the City has adopted a redistricting plan
that fails to divide the wards equally by population, and thereby denies individual plaintiffs or
members of the plaintiff association, League of Women Voters of Chicago, of the right to an
equal vote as guaranteed by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. With
statistical deviation of up to 8.7 percent between low-population and high-population wards, the
new wards differ in population not just by the hundreds, but by the thousands of persons. There
was no practical reason for such departure from principle of “one person, one vote,” except old-
fashioned gerrymandering to get 41 Council members to sign on to boundaries that would be
acceptable to them and facilitate their own re-election. The City rejected alternative plans from
the South Side chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) and Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) that would
have retained the same or a greater number of majority Black and majority Latino wards while
dividing all the wards equally or nearly so by population. By failing to divide the wards equally
by population, the City also has violated state law, 65 ILCS 20/21-36, which requires the wards
to be divided equally “to the extent practicable.”
3. Furthermore, the City has drawn the boundaries of the new Second and Thirty-
Sixth Wards, as well as other wards, in an arbitrary and capricious manner. By doing so, and in
violation of 42 U.S.C. §1983, the City has deprived individual plaintiffs and members of the
plaintiff association, League of Women Voters of Chicago, of their right to a minimally rational
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legislative scheme under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Likewise,
the City has violated 65 ILCS 20/21-36, which requires that the fifty wards be composed of
territory that is “compact and contiguous.”
4. Plaintiffs respectfully request the Court to use its broad equitable authority to
redress constitutional violations and adopt a remedy that will (a) restore the old ward boundaries
for the duration of the current aldermanic terms, (b) approve the designation of a special master
or a committee of respected citizens for the purpose of devising a new redistricting plan or plans,
(c) authorize the special master or committee to develop one or more alternative redistricting
plans that will be fair, impartial, and protect the voting rights of racial minorities, and (d) submit
either a single plan or multiple plans for selection by the City Council or by a referendum of
voters.
Parties
5. Plaintiff League of Women Voters of Chicago (hereinafter “LWV Chicago”) is a
nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government.
It influences public policy through education and advocacy.
6. Plaintiff Jodi Biancalana is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Thirty-
Sixth Ward but has been moved to the Twenty-Ninth Ward and assigned a new City Council
member to represent her currently.
7. Plaintiff Bruce Crosby is a resident of Chicago and living in the Twenty-First
Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections and whose representative
City Council member is now serving constituents other than plaintiff and others in the Twenty-
First Ward without having legal authority to do so.
8. Plaintiff William K. Crosby is a resident of Chicago and living in the Twenty-
First Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections and whose City
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Council member is now assigned to serve constituents other than plaintiff and others in the
Twenty-First Ward without having legal authority to do so.
9. Plaintiff Stephanie Crowell is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Second
Ward but has been moved to the Twenty-Fifth Ward and assigned a new City Council member to
represent her currently.
10. Plaintiff Ignazia Angela Daidone is a resident of Chicago and should be in the
Forty-Second Ward but has been moved to the Second Ward and assigned a new City Council
member to represent her currently.
11. Plaintiff Jim Ignatowski is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Thirty-Sixth
Ward but has been moved to the Thirty-Eighth Ward and assigned a new City Council member
to represent him currently.
12. Plaintiff Gerald A. Judge is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Thirty-
Second Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections, but has been
moved to the Second Ward and assigned a new City Council member to represent him currently.
13. Plaintiff Amelia Kabat is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Thirty-Sixth
Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections but has been moved to the
Thirty-Eighth Ward and assigned a new City Council member to represent her currently.
14. Plaintiff Ernie Lukasik is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Thirty-Sixth
Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections but has been moved to the
Twenty-Ninth Ward and assigned a new City Council member to represent him currently.
15. Plaintiff Keith McDonald is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Second
Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections but has been moved to the
Fourth Ward and assigned a new City Council member to represent him currently.
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16. Plaintiff Robert McKay is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Sixth Ward
under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections but has been moved to the Ninth
Ward and assigned a new City Council member to represent him currently.
17. Plaintiff Lynn Seermon is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Second
Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 elections but has been moved to the Twenty-
Eighth Ward and assigned a new City Council member to represent her currently.
18. Plaintiff Patricia Swindle is a resident of Chicago and living in the Twenty-
Seventh Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections and whose City
Council member is now assigned to serve constituents other than plaintiff and others in the
Twenty-Seventh Ward without having legal authority to do so.
19. Plaintiff Alonso Zaragoza is a resident of Chicago and should be in the Thirty-
First Ward under the boundaries in place in the 2011 City Council elections but has been moved
to the Thirty-Sixth Ward and assigned a new City Council member to represent him currently.
20. Plaintiffs Biancalana, Crowell, Daidone, Ignatowski, Judge, Kabat, Lukasik,
McDonald, Seermon, and Zaragoza are in wards with more than 53,912 persons according to the
census taken in 2010, and accordingly have less than an equal right to vote.
21. LWV Chicago also represents members in such oversized wards.
22. LWV Chicago and all individual plaintiffs bring this action to enforce their rights
to equal representation for themselves and other citizens of the City of Chicago under a
redistricting plan that is fair and impartial and protects minority voting rights.
23. Defendant City of Chicago is a body politic and municipal corporation.
Jurisdiction and Venue
24. Plaintiffs invoke the jurisdiction of this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1343 and
the supplemental jurisdiction of this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1367.
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25. Venue is proper in the Northern District of Illinois under 28 U.S.C § 1391
because the Defendant is located in this district and all events and omissions giving rise to the
claims occurred in this district.
Facts
26. As a result of the national census in 2010, and pursuant to 65 ILCS 20/21-37, the
defendant City was obligated to enact an ordinance to redistrict the City into fifty wards.
27. State law, namely 65 ILCS 20/21-36, further provides as follows: “In the
formation of wards the population of each shall be as nearly equal as practicable and each shall
be composed of contiguous and compact territory.”
28. In the census taken in 2010, the City of Chicago experienced a sharp decline in
population, by at least 200,000 persons.
29. The 2010 census determined that the population of the City of Chicago was
2,695,598.
30. Divided equally among the 50 wards, the population of each ward should be
53,912.
31. In 2011, a committee of the City Council – led by Alderman Richard Mell –
conducted hearings to solicit the views of citizens as to adjustment and changes in the existing
ward boundaries and to receive and consider proposed redistricting plans.
32. On January 17, 2012 Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of the City of Chicago, filed a call
for a special meeting of the City Council to be convened on Thursday, January 19, 2012 for the
sole purpose of considering and voting on an ordinance amending Title II, Section 8 of the
Municipal Code regarding ward boundaries.
33. The proposed ordinance dividing the fifty wards was not made public until 9:30
a.m. on January 19, 2012, a half hour before the convening of the City Council.
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34. On that morning, at 10:00 a.m., the City Council convened and immediately
approved the ordinance attached as Exhibit A (hereafter “January 19, 2012 Ordinance”).
35. There was no floor debate, and the January 19, 2012 Ordinance was approved by
a vote of 41 ayes and 8 nays.
36. The January 19, 2012 Ordinance does not divide the wards equally by population.
In population size, the new wards adopted by the January 19, 2012 Ordinance have deviations of
up to 8.7 percent in population, and many wards depart by several thousands of persons from the
statistical average, namely, 53,912 persons.
37. The table attached as Exhibit B show that many wards have significant deviations
from the statistical average of 53,912 persons.
38. The deviations in population are not necessary to protect minority voting strength.
39. The City received and rejected alternative redistricting plans submitted
respectively by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the
NAACP at hearings held by the City Council’s committee on redistricting.
40. The redistricting plan submitted by the NAACP would have kept a slightly larger
number of “majority Black” wards and the same number of “majority Latino” wards while
dividing the fifty wards equally by population. A copy of the plan submitted by the NAACP with
population tables is attached as Exhibit C.
41. The two redistricting plans proposed by MALDEF would have kept the same
number of majority Black and majority Latino wards while dividing the fifty wards equally or
nearly so in population. Copies of the plans submitted by MALDEF with population tables are
attached as Exhibits D and E.
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42. Accordingly, there was no practical reason why the City Council could not have
divided the fifty wards equally by population while preserving at least the same number of
majority Black and Latino wards as in the plan adopted by the January 19, 2012 Ordinance.
43. In addition, wards like the Second Ward now have grotesque shapes and
boundaries.
44. Since the City is laid out on a block grid, the boundaries of these wards are
inexplicable and have no rational basis.
45. State law, namely, 65 ILCS 20/21-36 requires that the wards “shall be composed
of contiguous and compact territory.”
46. The new Second Ward is neither “compact” nor genuinely “contiguous.”
47. The new Second Ward winds from Superior Street and Lake Shore Drive in
Streeterville (700 N, 500 E), through a two-block wide strip into a section of the Gold Coast,
North to a strip along North Avenue (1600 N) that is not even one block wide at Larrabee Street
(1600 N, 600 W), then up Clybourn Avenue into Lincoln Park, where it reaches as far north as
Wrightwood Avenue (2600 N), then across the Kennedy Expressway and the Chicago River,
where it curves back south through a narrow strip into a section of Ukrainian Village, where it
reaches its furthest southwest point at Chicago Avenue and Oakley Boulevard (800 N, 2300 W).
See January 19, 2012 Ordinance, attached hereto as Exhibit A, at p. 61 (map attachment).
48. While the new Second Ward stretches 3.5 miles from east to west and almost 2.5
miles from north to south, it includes sections that are under a quarter mile wide.
49. The new Second Ward does not include any territory included in the boundaries
of the Second Ward in effect for the 2011 elections.
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50. Furthermore, while the January 19, 2012 Ordinance states that the new ward
boundaries respect “communities of interest,” wards like the new Second Ward have no apparent
relationship either to “communities of interest,” or to any of the City’s 77 officially designated
neighborhoods.
51. In the case of the Second and Thirty-Sixth Wards, the City Council majority were
also attempting to oust the current City Council members who had been representing those
wards.
52. In both cases, the respective City Council members of the Second and Thirty
Sixth Wards have shown political independence from the City Council majority.
53. In addition, the January 19, 2012 Ordinance fragments some of the best-known
Chicago neighborhoods into multiple wards.
54. The Back of the Yards neighborhood, which makes up the majority of the official
New City Community Area, is divided among five wards (11, 12, 15, 16, and 20).
55. The Logan Square Community Area is divided among five wards (1, 26, 31, 32,
and 35).
56. Chinatown is divided among two wards (11, 25).
57. The January 19, 2012 Ordinance has no companion resolution explaining how the
ward boundaries were determined or the objectives of the City Council in creating such
grotesquely-shaped wards and fragmented neighborhoods.
58. By way of possible objectives, the January 19, 2012 Ordinance contains only the
following statement:
In the formation of wards in such redistricting, as nearly as practicable, each ward shall be compact, contiguous, and of substantially equal population with an acceptable deviation to
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respect established communities of interest or to achieve other legally valid and permissible objectives.
Ordinance, attached hereto as Exhibit A, at p. 3, § 1 (amending § 2-8-300 of the Municipal
Code).
59. However, City Council members individually made public statements that the
real and specific “objective” of the deviations was to draw ward boundaries that would secure
the votes of 41 City Council incumbents.
60. The approval of 41 City Council members was necessary under 65 ILCS 20/21-36
to ensure that the question of redistricting – specifically, a choice between two competing plans –
would not be left to a referendum by the voters.
61. Specifically, 65 ILCS 20/21-36 provides that one fifth of the City Council, or ten
of its fifty members, may petition to require the voters to choose between their own plan and that
of the majority of the Council.
62. The City Council floor leader, Alderman Pat O’Connor, effectively acknowledged
that the real objective of the deviation from one person, one vote as follows: “All we could do is
strive to have the largest number of City Council members available so that we would not have a
referendum — and that’s what we’ve achieved.”
63. The City has specified no other reason or objective for the failure to divide the
wards equally by population.
64. Subsequently, the majority of the City Council, to further protect their chances of
reelection, has sought to implement the new ward boundaries immediately, in advance of the
2015 election.
65. By its own terms, the January 19, 2012 Ordinance states that it is effective
immediately.
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66. However, by memorandum of February 2, 2012, the Corporation Counsel of the
City of Chicago denied that the boundaries could immediately take effect and that City Council
members could represent the new wards before the expiration of their terms. The memorandum
of Stephen Patton is attached as Exhibit F.
67. Subsequently, by letter of October 11, 2012, seven of the leading members of the
City Council majority that voted for the January 19, 2012 Ordinance circulated a letter stating the
following:
Historically, the recognition of the new ward boundaries has been implemented after the Board of Elections implemented the changes in precincts dictated by the new map and after the Department of Streets & Sanitation re-routed the pick-up routes ward by ward.
At this point in time, the Chicago Board of Elections has completed its changes…The new grid-based garbage collection system obviates the need to change pick-up routes.
As a result, we are proposing that the City Council, from this time on, implement the boundaries as reflected in the map that it passed earlier this year. It is our hope that such action will assist our constituents…
See 10/11/2012 Letter, attached hereto as Exhibit G.
68. In fact, the “action” referred to is intended to assist the incumbents who have to
run for reelection under these boundaries by allowing them early representation rights over the
likely voters in the new wards.
69. By taking over representation in this way, the incumbent City Council members
have the ability to direct aldermanic funds to win favor with the voters in the next election, make
zoning decisions favorably for such voters, and create “obligations” and “favors owed” that
would enhance their chances of reelection in the new wards.
70. At the same time, such implementation creates hardships and dilemmas for
disfavored City Council members, such as those in the Second and Thirty-Sixth wards, since
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they will lose the right to represent nearly all or all of their constituents under the old ward
boundaries.
71. By letter dated October 30, 2012, Alderman O’Connor wrote Mr. Thomas
Powers, Commissioner, Department of Water of the City of Chicago informing him of the
change in representation:
It is the intention of the majority of the City Council members to begin to immediately recognize the new ward boundaries to allow each Alderman to begin to interact with those constituents within their new ward boundaries with regard to decision making and infrastructure.
See O’Connor letter, attached hereto as Exhibit H, at p. 2.
72. Similar letters went to the Commissioners and heads of a number of other City
departments. Exhibit H at p. 1.
73. On January 14, 2013, Alderman Daniel Solis, Chairman of the Committee on
Zoning, Landmarks, & Building Standards sent a letter to the other aldermen and to the
Commissioner of the City’s Department of Housing & Economic Development, announcing that
the Committee had “begun using the newly remapped wards to consider zoning changes and sign
orders submitted to the committee” and that “the Committee ha[d] begun to defer to the
alderman [sic] of the redistricted wards.” See Solis Letter, attached hereto as Exhibit I (misdated
as January 14, 2012).
74. In March, the chairmen of four more City Council committees (Housing and Real
Estate, License and Consumer Protection, Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, and Transportation and
the Public Way) have announced their intention to use the new ward boundaries for committee
purposes as well.
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75. The City also implements an “Aldermanic Menu Program” that provides each
Council member with a discretionary budget to use for infrastructure improvements in the
member’s respective ward.
76. Each Council member is provided with a “menu” of infrastructure project options
from which the Council member may select projects for funding.
77. In 2012, each Council member was allocated a $1.32 million Aldermanic Menu
Program budget.
78. The City has authorized or permitted or failed to object to the expenditure of the
funds in the Alderman Menu Program outside of the wards for which they were intended.
79. For instance, the City’s records indicate that the Thirteenth Ward spent an
estimated $17,640 of its menu money on street resurfacing on the 5900 block of South
Rutherford Avenue – a block that was located in the Twenty-Third Ward according to the map in
effect during the 2011 election, but that will be part of the Thirteenth Ward in the upcoming
election. See 2012 Menu Detail for the Thirteenth Ward, attached hereto as Exhibit J, at p. 1.
80. As a result of the implementation of new ward boundaries for the old ward
boundaries that the Council members were elected to represent, there is now confusion and
uncertainty as to which City Council members plaintiffs should approach for help in zoning and
service related matters.
81. The City Council has not expressly approved by resolution or ordinance the right
of City Council members to begin representing plaintiffs on the basis of the new ward
boundaries.
82. Plaintiff Daidone’s experiences provide one example of the effect of the City’s
unlawful early implementation of the new map.
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83. Alderman Brendan Reilly was elected to serve the Forty-Second Ward, which
included Plaintiff Daidone’s residence, in 2011.
84. Ms. Daidone recently contacted Alderman Reilly to express concerns she had
regarding a proposed Loyola University of Chicago development that would be located within
the boundaries of the Forty-Second Ward in effect in 2011.
85. On March 20, 2013, Alderman Brendan Reilly wrote a letter to Plaintiff Daidone
informing her that the development was located in “the new 2nd Ward” and, thus, that he did not
have “jurisdiction over this matter as it proceeds through the city’s zoning and development
process.” See Reilly Letter, attached hereto as Exhibit K.
86. Alderman Reilly referred Ms. Daidone to Alderman Fioretti, the alderman of the
Second Ward, and stated, “It was a sincere honor to serve as your alderman, and I am confident
that you will be well-served by 2nd ward Alderman Bob Fioretti and his good offices.” Ex. K.
Count I (Mid-term Implementation of Redistricting Plan: Denial of Equal Protection)
87. By the acts set forth above, and in violation of 42 U.S.C. §1983, the City is
unlawfully implementing the new ward boundaries – and a de facto change in the Council
members authorized to represent plaintiffs – and thereby depriving plaintiffs of their right to vote
and their right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment.
88. As set forth above, the City has changed the City Council members who will be
recognized for the purpose of representing plaintiffs in zoning changes, sign orders,
infrastructure spending and other city services, as well as other matters that may come before the
City Council.
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89. The City has made or acquiesced in these changes now in the representation of
plaintiffs without any authority under state law, without any new elections, and without the
benefit of a formal ordinance or resolution.
90. The loss of their constitutional right to be represented by City Council members
of their own choosing constitutes irreparable injury.
91. Plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law.
WHEREFORE, plaintiffs pray this Court to:
A. Declare that in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983, the Defendant, City of Chicago, has
approved, authorized and assisted in implementing the new ward boundaries and
changing the identity of plaintiffs’ elected representatives so as to deprive them of the
right to vote and of their right to the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth
Amendment of the United States Constitution;
B. Enjoin Defendant, City of Chicago, on both a preliminary and permanent basis, from
implementing the new boundaries and imposing a new set of elected representatives
upon plaintiffs prior to the 2015 election; and
C. Grant Plaintiffs their legal fees and costs and other appropriate relief.
Count II (Mid-term Implementation of Redistricting Plan: Ultra Vires Act)
92. State law only gives the City the authority to redistrict wards for elections taking
place after December of the year following the decennial census – in this case, after December
2011.
93. State law makes clear that “[a]ll elections of aldermen shall be held from the
existing wards until a redistricting is had as provided for in this article.” 65 ILCS 20/21-38.
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94. By implementing the new ward boundaries prior to the 2015 election, the City has
effectively applied the new boundaries to the aldermen elected in 2011.
95. Furthermore, such action, which effectively nullifies the results of the 2011 City
Council elections, violates Article I, Section 2 and Article III, Section 4 of the Illinois
Constitution, which have been interpreted by the highest state court as having the identical
requirements of federal law.
96. As a result, the City has committed ultra vires acts that are harming Plaintiffs and
other voters by changing the identity of their elected representatives.
97. Plaintiffs have suffered irreparable injury from such constitutional and statutory
violations of the right to vote.
98. Plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law.
WHEREFORE, plaintiffs pray this Court to:
A. Declare that the City of Chicago has violated 65 ILCS 20/21-36 and acted ultra vires
by implementing the new ward boundaries and changing the identity of their elected
representatives prior to the next City Council elections in 2015;
B. Enjoin defendant City of Chicago from implementing the new boundaries and
changing the identity of their elected representatives prior to the next City Council
elections in 2015; and
C. Grant plaintiffs their legal fees and costs under the Illinois Civil Rights Act, 740
ILCS 23/5 and other appropriate relief.
Count III (Violation of One Person, One Vote: Equal Protection)
99. By the acts set forth above, and by the enactment of a redistricting ordinance on
January 19, 2012, and in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the defendant City of Chicago has
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divided the fifty wards so as to deprive the plaintiffs and other citizens of Chicago of an equal
right to vote in the next scheduled election for the City Council to be held in 2015, and to deny
them the mathematical equality of representation in the City Council to which they are entitled
under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
100. In the ward boundaries adopted by the Ordinance, the population deviations
between “low” population and “high” population wards are as high as 8.7 percent.
101. As set forth in Exhibit B, the new wards show significant deviations below or
above the norm of 53,912.
102. There is no practical or lawful reason for failure to provide plaintiffs with a
representation scheme based on one-person, one-vote.
103. The City Council majority adopted this unlawful and unequal Ordinance in order
to obtain the minimum 41 votes necessary to prevent the submission of the question of
redistricting to plaintiffs and other voters.
104. The City rejected other maps that would have preserved minority voting rights
equally well or even better while still dividing the wards equally by population.
105. Plaintiffs have suffered irreparable injury from the violation of their constitutional
rights, since the new ward boundaries are already in effect for purposes of representation.
106. Plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law.
WHEREFORE Plaintiffs pray this Court to;
A. Declare that in adopting the Ordinance of January 19, 2012,, and in violation of 42
U.S.C. §1983, the defendant City of Chicago has deprived or will deprive plaintiffs
and other citizens of their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment;
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B. Enjoin the City of Chicago on a preliminary and permanent basis from implementing
in any manner the aforesaid Ordinance;
C. Direct the City of Chicago as follows: (1) restore the old ward boundaries until the
next City Council elections in 2015; (2) approve the designation of a special master or
a committee of respected citizens for the purpose of devising a lawful new
redistricting plan or plans; (3) authorize the special master or committee to develop
one or more alternative redistricting plans that will divide the fifty wards equally by
population and will be fair, impartial, and protect the voting rights of racial
minorities; and (4) submit either a single plan or multiple plans for selection by the
City Council or, in the alternative, for selection by a referendum of voters; and
D. Grant plaintiffs their legal fees and costs and such other relief as may be appropriate.
Count IV (Violation of State Law Requirement to Divide the 50 Wards Equally by Population)
107. As set forth in 65 ILCS 20/21-36, the City of Chicago is obligated by state law to
ensure that in the formation of wards, “the population of each shall be as nearly equal as
practicable and each shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory.”
108. By the acts set forth above and by adopting a redistricting plan which deviates
from such equality between the wards by thousands of citizens, and doing so for no express or
apparent lawful “practical” reason, the City of Chicago has also violated 65 ILCS 20/21-36.
109. Such action also violates the rights of plaintiffs under Article I, Section 2 and
Article III, Section 2 of the Illinois Constitution, which have been interpreted by the highest state
court to have the identical requirements of federal law.
110. Plaintiffs have suffered irreparable injury from these violations since the new
ward boundaries are already in effect.
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WHEREFORE Plaintiffs pray this Court to:
A. Declare that in adopting the Ordinance of January 19, 2012, the City of Chicago has
violated 65 ILCS 20/21-36, as well as the rights of plaintiffs under the Illinois
Constitution;
B. Enjoin the City of Chicago on a preliminary and permanent basis from implementing
in any manner the aforesaid Ordinance;
C. Direct the City of Chicago as follows: (1) restore the old ward boundaries for the
duration of the current aldermanic terms; (2) approve the designation of a special
master or a committee of respected citizens for the purpose of devising a lawful new
redistricting plan or plans; (3) authorize the special master or committee to develop
one or more alternative redistricting plans that will be fair, impartial, and protect the
voting rights of minorities; and (4) submit either a single plan or multiple plans for
selection by the City Council or by a referendum of voters.
D. Grant plaintiffs their legal fees and other appropriate relief.
Count V (Arbitrary and Capricious Ward Boundaries: Denial of Equal Protection)
111. As set forth above, and in violation of 42 U.S.C.§ 1983, the City has acted under
color of law to replace the wards in which plaintiffs live with ward boundaries, including but not
limited to those of the new Second Ward, that are arbitrary and capricious and have no rational
relationship with any legitimate state purpose.
112. Accordingly, in violation of 42 U.S.C.§ 1983, the City has acted under color of
law to deprive plaintiffs living in those wards of their right to a minimally rational scheme of
representation and accordingly of their right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth
Amendment.
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113. Plaintiffs have suffered irreparable injury from these constitutional violations
since the new ward boundaries are already in effect.
114. Plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law.
WHEREFORE, plaintiffs pray this Court to:
A. Declare that in creating such arbitrary and capricious classifications of citizens for
purposes of voting and representation in City Council elections, the City has violated
42 USC §1983 by depriving plaintiffs of their right to a minimally rational scheme of
representation under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment;
B. Enjoin the implementation of the January 19, 2012 Ordinance;
C. Direct the City to create a redistricting plan that divides the fifty wards on a
minimally rational basis; and
D. Grant plaintiff their legal fees and costs.
Count VI (Ultra Vires – Violation of State Law)
115. As set forth above, state law, namely, 65 ILCS 20/21-36 requires that the fifty
wards of the City of Chicago shall be composed of territory that is compact and contiguous.
116. Notwithstanding that the City is laid out on a grid, the wards in the Ordinance are
not composed of “territory that is…compact.”
117. For example, the Second Ward as set out in Exhibit A is not compact but has
elongated and looping spaghetti-like shapes with no relationship to any legitimate purpose.
WHEREFORE, plaintiffs pray this Court to:
A. Declare that by the adoption of the January 19, 2012 Ordinance, the City has deprived
the plaintiffs of their right to a scheme of representation that provides that all wards,
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including the Second Ward, shall be composed of compact and contiguous territory,
as provided in 65 ILCS 20/21-36;
B. Enjoin on a preliminary and permanent basis the implementation of the January 19,
2012 Ordinance; and
C. Direct the City to develop and adopt a redistricting plan that is in compliance with 65
ILCS 20/21-36 with respect to each and every one of the City’s fifty wards.
Jury Demand
Plaintiff hereby demands a jury trial pursuant to Rule 38(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure on all issues so triable.
April 2, 2013 By: /s/ Sean Morales-Doyle One of Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Thomas H. Geoghegan Sean Morales-Doyle Michael P. Persoon Despres, Schwartz & Geoghegan, Ltd. 77 West Washington Street, Suite 711 Chicago, Illinois 60602 (312) 372-2511
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