Springfield, IL – The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today to deny House Republicans’ motion for leave to file a lawsuit, which alleged that the Democratic majority had rigged elections by gerrymandering the current legislative maps. The Court ruled 5-1-0, with Justice Overstreet dissenting and Justice Holder White recusing herself. After today’s court ruling came down, State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) issued the following statement.
“Never has a greater injustice been foisted on voters of Illinois through a judicial decision than was done today. This has to be the absolute worst. The court had a chance to make things right and to give the voters a chance to pick their representatives instead of representatives picking their voters. They declined because of a technical term in the law called laches, which I believe was completely misapplied. Someone has to be called to account on this. Justice Overstreet’s dissent did a fantastic job of laying out the problems with this decision. Timeliness is an issue that should not be raised by the court but by the defense instead.”