Free Republic

Democrats are converting their emotional protests against “family separation” into unpopular calls for the catch-and-release of many Central American migrants into ordinary Americans’ jobsites and schools. The pre-election, pro-migration push is a huge risk, according to a poll by The Economist and YouGov which shows 3:1 public opposition to the Democrats’s catch-and-release policy. That opposition to catch-and-release was reinforced by President Donald Trump’s June 20 Executive Order to keep families together in detention until their appeal is decided by a judge. Many Democrats are pushing their demand that migrants caught at the border be quickly released into Americans’ workplaces and...

Since Illinois began issuing permits to carry concealed firearms in 2014, state government has generated considerable evidence of how its 265,000 permit holders use their weapons. There have been dozens of shootings by licensees. At least 11 people have been killed. These episodes might confirm the value of armed citizens in stopping violent criminals. Or they could reveal a pattern of trigger-happy amateurs blasting away without a good reason. So which is it? We can’t say — and neither can law enforcement. As the Tribune’s Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas and Jennifer Smith Richards report, “The state police know nothing about the nearly...

About 20 men from the Chicago Bar Association’s Young Lawyer’s Section participated in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event. _______________________________________________

What better way could there be to celebrate Obama's legacy than bankrupting a bankrupt state for the greater glory of Barry? Illinois now has the worst credit rating in the municipal bond market. Moody’s Investment Services pegs Illinois’ debt at Baa3, and it could further downgrade that credit rating later in 2018. The State of Illinois incurred deficits reaching nearly $15 billion in 2017, and those deficits are projected to double to $30 billion in 2018. Illinois has also accumulated hundreds of billions in unfunded liabilities in public sector pension and health-care plans. This has exposed local jurisdictions to the...

She was eager to tout a drop in the Cook County Jail population, down from more than 10,000 in 2013 to about 6,000 today. Preckwinkle and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx have crusaded for reforms that encourage judges to release non-violent suspects on their own recognizance, rather than require them to post cash bonds. That is saving taxpayer dollars and getting people back home to go to work and support their families. But, I noted, “there’s a perception that you and Kim Foxx are too lenient …” “Soft on crime?” she interjected. “It’s the term Republicans use to beat...

Walking along Michigan Avenue the other day, my 8-year-old nephew who is visiting from Georgia noticed the shiny glass building towering over the Chicago River. “Look, it says Trump!” he shouted. “What do you know about Trump?” I asked. “Do you like him?” “Yeah,” he answered without hesitation. “He’s our president. He keeps us safe.” Granted, my nephew comes from a small town in a red state that gave Donald Trump 50 percent of the vote against Hillary Clinton’s 45 percent. It is quite possible that he has managed to escape much of the Trump disdain that is displayed so...

The Illinois tollway contends its no-bid process that uses a selection committee to makes recommendations to the board on expensive engineering contracts is independent and transparent. But when asked to provide meeting minutes, the agency blacked out the names of committee members in a majority of cases, making it impossible to see who is voting -- a response criticized by attorney and public access expert Don Craven as improper under Illinois open records law. When the names did surface they included tollway board Director Corey Brooks, who like all directors is appointed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, countering claims the...

The Illinois Tollway board on Wednesday approved a deal with a Canadian railway to allow highway ramps over train tracks just west of O’Hare International Airport, which will make possible long-anticipated western highway access to and from the airport. By a 6-0 vote, the Tollway board approved a “letter of intent” with Canadian Pacific Railway at a special meeting. Under the terms of the letter, both parties agree to withdraw litigation against each other and to allow construction to go forward. The letter also permits negotiations to proceed on issues like air rights and right-of-way. “This is an agreement that’s...

Illinois, your house has been put back in order. Not your political house, already in the midst of an ugly gubernatorial campaign. We're talking about the Executive Mansion, the “People’s House,” which will reopen to the public July 14 after a $15 million renovation that has simultaneously modernized and beautified what used to be the state’s most embarrassing fixer-upper. An exclusive tour of the mansion and its grounds Thursday, led by Illinois first lady Diana Rauner, revealed much beyond the practical pluses of energy-efficient windows that don’t leak and an elevator that finally provides full access to the home for...

In a surprise, but lawful move, Lake County Circuit Court blocked an unconstitutional ban on alleged "assault weapons" and high capacity magazines with a temporary injunction in the small town of Deerfield, Illinois just hours before the ban was to go into effect. The 19th Judicial Circuit Court in Lake County, Illinois rendered the decision on Tuesday after gun owner rights activists sued the city after a ban that was unanimously passed by all six of the town's board members on April 2. Vice News reports: Gun groups, including the National Rifle Association of Illinois, requested a temporary restraining order...

Stormy Daniels three-night, five-show run at the Admiral Theatre has been canceled after a dispute over revenue-sharing, according to the strip club’s owner, who says he plans to “file a lawsuit next week” against the porn star. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was scheduled to perform through the weekend at the Admiral as part of her national “Make America Horny Again” tour, a nod to her ongoing legal battle with President Donald Trump. The strip club’s owner, Sam Cecola, says her remaining sold-out shows Friday and Saturday have been canceled due to a dispute over revenue sharing stemming...

(snip)The Tribune combed through police files, court records and news reports to compile its own list. The analysis shows that: Most of those shot by CCL holders have been armed robbers. Others include carjackers, a burglar with a crowbar, a robber with a gun to a clerk’s head, neighbors, an ex-girlfriend, a father-in-law, an unarmed teen stealing a Jeep, a passenger in a car during a road rage attack and a naked man acting “aggressively.” They were shot by homeowners, customers, security guards, store clerks, a Chicago police dispatcher, a Chicago fire lieutenant, a Chicago Park District worker, a tow-truck...

With a U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Janus v. AFCSME case expected any day, Connecticut’s public sector unions are trying to convince members not to opt-out of membership if the Supreme Court decides in favor of Mark Janus. The Connecticut State Employees Association and the American Federation of Teachers informed their members of a Freedom of Information request for union members’ contact information that originated out of Illinois. Leaders say this information could be used for an opt-out campaign in the wake of a positive Janus decision. ... A decision in favor of Janus would essentially make Connecticut a...

The Village of Deerfield, Illinois’ “assault weapons” ban that would have required residents to turn in or remove their scary black rifles from the town was set to take effect tomorrow. But John Boch reports that after hearing arguments in a suit brought by Guns Save Life and the NRA today, a Lake County circuit court judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the law until the suit can be decided. The Deerfield law is in direct conflict with Illinois’ preemption law that prohibits cities from enacting gun control measures that are more restrictive than state law....

---I have exceeded my limit on Chicago's second rate garbage wrap but the link should still work--- --this is an admission that "another" gun law may not do as touted --after years of calling on the Illinois state legislature and Congress to pass more of them-- --the hypocrisy is unbelievable---

In 2018, black voters are finding out just what the hell they had to lose. Nazis and Klansmen march openly and proudly, and hate crimes appear to be on the rise. Police killings of people—especially black people—remain largely the same year to year, and this iteration of the Justice Department has largely abdicated any federal responsibility in reducing brutality. An infant-mortality crisis is tightening its grip on the most marginalized communities, and across many economic metrics—from evictions, to generational wealth, to segregation—disparities are either stagnating or trending in the wrong direction. Fifty years after the Kerner Commission’s report said the...

Jun082018 The State of Lincoln In political terms, the state of Illinois is a vassal of the seeping carbuncle of corruption, moonbattery, and political dysfunction that launched the career of Barack Obama. No matter how the regular Americans in the rest of the state might vote, the entrenched leftists in Chicago will impose their will. This disenfranchises the millions who do not live in Cook County, depriving them of self-determination and forcing them to go down with a sinking ship. Since kicking Chicago out of the state isn’t practical, Illinoisans have settled on the next best option. They want to break...

A progressive summer storm has blown across the Illinois prairie and settled over the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon, Illinois, full of sound and fury and, well, not exactly signifying nothing, but rather seeking the pound of flesh that the progressive jihadists need to satisfy their bloodlust. The current recipient of the One Minute Hate is a mild school board member who committed the mortal sin of challenging liberal stupidity and thus must be destroyed. The man in question – one Steve Springer of the O'Fallon School District 90 – challenged several left-wing orthodoxies and is now facing the leftists'...

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Friday that President Trump is “groveling at the feet of our adversaries” shortly after the president called for Russia to be reinstated the Group of Seven (G-7). Durbin in a tweet mockingly quoted Trump saying of himself, “Nobody has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump,” before adding: “Now watch President Trump grovel at the feet of our adversary and punish our strongest allies,” a reference to recent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. While speaking to reporters on Friday prior to departing for Canada to attend the G-7 summit, the president said...

We are shouting from the outside. Shout loud and long enough, though, and we can prevail. We can civilize our gun laws. One month ago, this editorial page launched a campaign called “31 bullets” to promote 31 ways to curb gun violence in our nation, and with each proposed action we did our best to include a simple way that you, personally, could make it happen. We presented our 31st and last bullet — a call for federal design safety standards for American-made guns — on Tuesday. EDITORIAL We have called the campaign, which we are conducting in partnership with...