By David Stanczak

On August 26, 2016, a day that will live in infamy in Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote along party lines, did a disservice to itself, the people of the State of Illinois and the Illinois Constitution which its members swore to uphold. Pretty impressive for one day’s work.

Last Friday, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the Independent Map Amendment failed to meet the requirements of the Illinois Constitution for inclusion on the November 2016 ballot.  It reached that conclusion despite the fact that over half a million voters signed a petition to put the question of the constitutional amendment on the ballot, despite the fact that editorial opinion on the issue was overwhelmingly favorable, and despite the fact that four-fifths of voters in one poll wanted to take legislative redistricting authority away from the General Assembly, which has prostituted that power to protect incumbents.

The court did itself a disservice because its politically partisan opinion will diminish respect for the court to a level rivaling its disrepute in the wake of the ignominious resignations of Justices Solfisburg and Klingbiel.

It did a disservice to the people of the state, by disenfranchising them on the matter of redistricting.   That referendum was the only orderly way the people could hope to break the stranglehold the incumbents have on an electoral process which virtually guarantees their continued incumbency despite their inexpressibly unsatisfactory performance.

It did a disservice to the Illinois Constitution because the court construed it in a way that thwarts the ability of the people who adopted it to change it, and it did so in the face of deliberations of the Constitutional Convention which clearly show an intent of the delegates to make legislative redistricting a legitimate subject of amendment.  There now remains only the formality of crowning Mike Madigan Speaker for Life (or until he tires of the job and decides to collect his lavish pension and leave what’s left of the state to someone else to run down).

Last Friday marked another significant step in the metamorphosis of the State of Illinois from the Land of Lincoln to the People’s Republic of Madiganistan.

David Stanczak, a Forum commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.

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