Making a federal issue out of the Obama Center lawsuit (Jackson Park)

Chicago Reader ^ | 5/27/20 | Deanna Isaacs

[Libloather]

**SNIP**

Thanks to the pandemic, this hearing, before a three-judge federal appeals court panel, took place in part via telephone. It was recorded, which means you can still listen in, on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit website. If you do, you’ll catch University of Chicago (and NYU) law professor Richard Epstein asking for a reversal of last year’s decision by District Court judge John Robert Blakey to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the activist group Protect Our Parks that sought to keep the Obama Presidential Center out of Jackson Park. And you’ll hear city attorney Benna Ruth Solomon, on the other side, arguing that Judge Blakey did everything right and no further court action is necessary.

According to Epstein, the dismissal rested on two incorrect assumptions: that the city and park district have no fiduciary responsibilities in turning Jackson Park land over to the Obama Foundation; and that any responsibility they could have had was satisfied by showing that the Obama Center will offer the public any benefit at all.

It’s complicated, but Epstein’s arguments include these: the city improperly turned over its decision-making authority to the Obama Foundation; the city’s “use agreement” with the foundation is actually an exclusive lease; and the Obama Center is no longer a library, since the presidential papers will be digitized and maintained elsewhere by the federal government. Epstein also disputes the city’s claim that the OPC will take up only 3.5 percent of Jackson Park, arguing that the center’s nearly 20 acres represent a much larger portion of the park’s usable land (since so much of it is occupied by lagoons and roads). He claims that land worth about $200 million is being handed over to the OPC for $10 for 99 years...

[Libloather]

The locals still don't want it.

[hinckley buzzard]

Jackson Park is a historic area. The only reason Obama wants to destroy it is because it was created by white people.

[Lockbox]

Well Richard, you must be racist...... that is always the rationale Obama protectors use against anyone who goes against The One’s wishes.

So Richard, how long have you been racist? Was your father racist? Any slave ownership in your family background? Richard, when did you stop beating black people?

[TigersEye]