Free Republic

Saying gender identity is real, a federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, ruling Tuesday that the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment. Judge Robert Hinkle issued a preliminary injunction, saying three transgender children can continue receiving treatment. The lawsuit challenges the law Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed shortly before he announced a run for president. “The elephant in the room should be noted at the outset. Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear,” Hinkle said, adding that even a witness for the state...

In their announcement, Six Flags Over Texas wrote, “All content is rated PG and is considered to be family-friendly and inclusive for all ages. Anyone under 17 should consult with a parent or guardian if there is concern.”

Chicago is bracing for Memorial Day chaos by deploying 'peacekeepers' across the city - after 52 people were shot and nine killed over the holiday last year. Historically, Memorial Day weekend has been marked by an increase in violent incidents in Chicago, making it one of the most challenging periods for public safety in the city. Governor JB Pritzker announced on Thursday the establishment of the Citywide Crisis Prevention & Response unit, which will collaborate with community-based organizations to deploy over 30 trained neighborhood 'peacekeepers.' It was described as a highly mobile team that is specifically designed to prevent violence...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Memorial Day weekend marks the first major test for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Memorial Day weekend last year was filled with violence with nearly 50 people shot. This year with a new leader in place, Mayor Brandon Johnson has a new plan in place, vowing it will be different this year. Johnson said a $2.5 million investment from the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities' eighth annual Chicago Fund is part of the plan. The public-private partnership will support violence prevention and youth outreach efforts across the city by funding the work of 253 grassroots organizations...

As a seventy-year resident of Springfield, Ill, I was amazed and amused that there was an article in the Wall Street Journal, a supposedly reputable, savvy business newspaper touting Springfield as a great place to buy a house. It is as if the reporter doesn’t know how to read, think, analyze, and ask questions before regurgitating something. WCIA TV writes:Springfield was featured in a national publication as one of the best housing markets.An article in the Wall Street Journal published earlier this month listed Springfield, Illinois as number 17 out of 300 for towns on the WSJ/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets...

Still, that upward [revenue] revision for the upcoming year would not be enough to cover a shortfall created by a cost overrun related to a state expansion of health care to noncitizens who would otherwise be ineligible for Medicaid benefits. Those programs, which provide health care benefits similar to Medicaid to noncitizens aged 42 and older, are now expected to cost about $1.1 billion next year – a 400 percent increase from the original estimate of $220 million included in Pritzker’s February budget proposal.

Winning!Injunction against Illinois' Un-Constitutional "Assault Weapons Ban" has been granted by the US District Court! They cite the clear violation of the Second Amendment which includles the indivual right to bear arms (in common use) and US Supreme Court Precedent. Clearly the court recognized that Illinois' "Assault Weapons Ban" was written in defiance of the US Constitution and legal precedent. At this point, JB PRICKSTER and KWAME RAOUL are all but guaranteed to lose if they appeal to the IL Supreme Court, who'll simply uphold the Appellate Court's finding. Fatboy PRICKSTER and RAOUL wouldn't stand an ice cubes chance in...

A federal judge in Illinois has granted a temporary injunction blocking the enforcement of a gun law which bans some semiautomatic rifles as well as high-capacity magazines. United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois judge Stephen Patrick McGlynn issued the ruling Friday afternoon, stating that the court "must be mindful of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution." The ban, signed by Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in January, includes penalties for individuals who, "Carries or possesses… Manufactures, sells, delivers, imports, or purchases any assault weapon or .50 caliber rifle."

Illinois taxpayers are set to be hit with a billion-dollar bill providing healthcare benefits to newly arrived illegal aliens in the state thanks to Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), according to estimates. While tens of thousands of illegal aliens continue to be bused to the sanctuary city of Chicago, Illinois, from Texas, Republican lawmakers in the state are sounding the alarm over the economic and social burden that the new arrivals are set to impose on taxpayers.

Chicago police are investigating three armored truck robberies that occurred just hours apart Wednesday

But while the state’s coffers suffer, Pritzker will be doing just fine. He is a scion of a billionaire family, whose members include former secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker, who was an Obama campaign donor. Another Pritzker sibling, meanwhile, exemplifies how the family has used its vast wealth to promote liberal causes: specifically, the cultural normalization of transgenderism. Earlier this month, Jennifer Bilek explained this in great detail for Tablet. (Bilek prefers to use the term “synthetic sex identities,” or SSI, because she thinks the word “transgenderism” lacks “clear boundaries” and is thus “useless for communication.”): A sample: Ever since,...

Who Is Funding the Transgender Movement? I found exceedingly rich, white men with enormous cultural influence are funding the transgender lobby and various transgender organizations. These include but are not limited to Jennifer Pritzker (a male who identifies as transgender); George Soros; Martine Rothblatt (a male who identifies as transgender and transhumanist); Tim Gill (a gay man); Drummond Pike; Warren and Peter Buffett; Jon Stryker (a gay man); Mark Bonham (a gay man); and Ric Weiland (a deceased gay man whose philanthropy is still LGBT-oriented). Most of these billionaires fund the transgender lobby and organizations through their own organizations, including...

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois will become one of three states to require employers to offer paid time off for any reason after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law on Monday that will take effect next year. Starting Jan. 1, Illinois employers must offer workers paid time off based on hours worked, with no need to explain the reason for their absence as long as they provide notice in accordance with reasonable employer standards. Just Maine and Nevada mandate earned paid time time off and allot employees the freedom to decide how to use it, but Illinois’ law is further reaching,...

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday that despite his million-dollar donations to two Illinois Supreme Court justices last year, they are independent and should not have to recuse themselves from two high-profile cases before them in which the governor is a defendant. Pritzker donated a total of $2 million from two separate accounts to then-Illinois Supreme Court candidates Mary O’Brien and Elizabeth Rochford, $1 million each. Those candidates are now justices on the bench of seven who will hear separate challenges to the state's no-cash bail provision (next week) and to the state's gun ban and registry (in May). Pritzker signed...

On January 20th, a week-and-a-half after Gov. JB Pritzker’s assault weapons ban went into effect, Gov. Pritzker was caught flat-footed when an Effingham County judge entered a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against his gun ban. It was a win that no one saw coming based on a novel theory by former Republican AG candidate Thomas DeVore that the gun ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Illinois Constitution. And since that early win, additional TROs have been secured across Illinois, with additional plaintiffs now joining the consolidated litigation in Effingham County that very soon will cover nearly 7000 Illinoisans,...

A downstate judge on Friday struck down the ban on high-power firearms and high-capacity ammunition magazines that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law earlier this year, a ruling the Illinois attorney general’s office immediately appealed to the state Supreme Court. The scope of the ruling was a subject of dispute, with the attorney for the state lawmaker who was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit arguing that it applies statewide and Pritzker’s office contending it does not. “We expected political grandstanding from those more beholden to the gun lobby than to the safety of their constituents and today’s ruling comes...

Data from the Illinois State Board of Education documents a dysfunctional public school system. There are 53 schools where not a single student is able to do math at the level expected for his or her grade. There are 622 schools where only one tenth of the students can read at grade level. There are 930 schools where only a tenth of the students can do math at grade level. Many of these schools' performances are rated "commendable" by the State Board of Education. Ninety-seven percent of the state's public school teachers are rated as "excellent" or "proficient." However, fewer...

Pair has lost five races in the past three cycles combined Two failed Democratic political candidates will bring their experience to the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics as fellows for winter-spring seminars. Robert O’Rourke, also known as “Beto,” recently completed a trifecta of losses — in 2018, he lost in a Texas U.S. Senate bid against Ted Cruz, in 2020 he lost in the Democratic primaries for president, and in 2022 he lost in a gubernatorial bid against Republican Greg Abbott. Fellow Democrat Tim Ryan knows something about losing as well — he lost to political outsider J.D. Vance...

CPD said both officers have served their time and are back on the street. CHICAGO (WLS) -- Damien Stewart admits he has made mistakes in the past, which includes breaking the law, but the 31-year-old man said he never did anything to deserve a beating from two Chicago police officers while in a holding cell at the 4th District almost four years ago. "They struck me. I don't know why they struck me. I didn't say anything, or make any aggressive movements," Stewart said. Stewart said it all started with a traffic stop at the corner of 75th and Stoney...

Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggested Thursday that street vendors stop using cash in order to quell Chicago’s crime spike.