Important IRTA Update
A total of 10 amicus briefs in the pension
case were filed between January 12- 16.
Per the Supreme Court Rules, each amicus
has filed a motion asking the Supreme Court for leave to file its amicus
brief. (Under the rules, anyone who files an amicus brief technically has
to first ask the Supreme Court for permission to do so, and must submit the
brief that would be filed if permission were granted.)
While it's not unusual for a few amicus
briefs to be filed in an important Supreme Court case, the large number and the
sheer volume of these amicus filings is unusual. In this case, the number
and volume of amicus filings also is entirely inconsistent with the spirit of
the accelerated docket that the State requested and received. It would be
unfair and extremely burdensome for the plaintiffs to have to respond not only
to the State's brief, but also to 10 other briefs, within the accelerated
schedule and within the normal 50-page limit for Supreme Court briefs.
On January 20, 2015 our attorneys filed a
motion for a 28-day extension of time to file our appellate brief.
On January 22, 2015 the Supreme Court
ruled on the procedural motions:
1. The
Supreme Court denied leave to all of the State's amici. None of the
State's amici briefs will be allowed to be filed.
2. Because
of #1, our motion for an extension of time was denied as moot.
In March the Supreme Court will hear oral
arguments.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
These “friends”
of the Attorney General’s motion utilizing police powers to ignore a
Constitutional promise upheld in an earlier Circuit Court were as follows:
The International
Municipal Layers Association - a non-profit, national think-tank offering
legal advice to client municipalities.
You might remember in 2007, this group lobbied against the FederalPublic
Safety Act, which allowed an employee to join a union.
Contracts Professors
et.al - Professors Katharine Baker,
Chicago-Kent College of Law School; Wendy Epstein, DePaul University College of
Law; Adrian Walters, Chicago-Kent College of Law – three members of the legal
community specializing in commercial law, corporate law and contracts. They argued against any absolute
interpretation of the Pension Clause.
The Civic Federation
- A politically influential player
in local and state politics, headed by Lawrence Msall – a frequent guest on
WTTW Chicago Tonight where he battles against Ralph Martire of the CTBA and all
things public worker. Mr. Msall and his
predecessor Eden Martin were active and influential during the development of the
current Pension Ramp that annually undermines the state budget.
Constitutional Law
Professors - A collection of five legal counselors, writers and professors
working collaboratively to refute the absolute nature of a constitutional
guarantee.
Chicago Public
Schools et.al. Several briefs filed by
lawyers representing the Chicago Public School System, Chicago Transit
Authority, and the Chicago Park District – all apply the future crises they
face in pension shortages as a necessary concern and motive to support Lisa
Madigan’s police power argument.
Will-Grundy Center
for Independent Living et al. – Argues that if the earlier Appellate Court
decision is upheld, it will severely reduce the opportunity or amount of
funding targeted to health services for the least able of our citizens.
The City of Chicago
– As in the arguments by the CPS et al., the brief presented the looming crisis
facing the city in its pension obligations and its poor investor’s rating as
well as the ongoing structural revenue problem
The Civic Committee
of the Commercial Club of Chicago – The well-heeled collection of corporate
heads and powerbrokers led by Tyrone Fahner, close advisor and friend to
past-Governor James Thompson, himself one of the more egregious pension thieves
during his tenure. The brief argued that
the dire fiscal situation facing the state, even after making changes in a
second tier of public workers, demonstrates that “any fiscal future” is reliant
on an overturning of the Circuit Court decision.
The Illinois Policy
Institute - This brief from the often vocal tea-party group on WTTW Chicago
Tonight argued that without necessary changes provided by SB1, the pension systems
themselves would be jeopardized; thus, change must be forced despite earlier
Circuit Court declarations that the law was unconstitutional.
The Illinois
Municipal League. A group
representing over one thousand local municipalities and a member of the
advocate group the Pension Fairness
Coalition, urged a reduction in state retirement programs in order to
assure continued funding of local public safety workers retirement. You might remember when the IPI suggested
that North Riverside’s fire department privatize as a result of “forgetting” to
make payments into the pension funds for decades. Many other municipalities face such shortfalls
for a variety of reasons. http://pension-vocabulary.blogspot.com/search?q=diana+rickert
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