SAF wins permanent injunction vs. Public Housing-Illinois

[swinokur]

From SAF:

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[FONT=&quot]SAF WINS PERMANENT INJUNCTION v.[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]PUBLIC HOUSING GUN BAN IN ILLINOIS[/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has won a permanent injunction against the Warren County, Ill. Housing Authority’s ban on the possession of firearms by residents or guests.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The case was filed more than a year ago in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division. Ronald G. Winbigler, a resident of Costello Terrace in Monmouth, is a physically disabled former police officer who wanted to keep a handgun in his residence for personal protection.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]SAF filed the lawsuit on his behalf, and they were represented by attorney David Sigale, who noted, “People do not lose their Second Amendment rights just because they are of limited means. It is an indignity to make the waiver of constitutional rights a condition of government-subsidized housing.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb was delighted with the ruling.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“We brought this case because it was unconscionable,” Gottlieb said, “in the wake of our victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago that a public entity in Illinois would engage in this kind of discrimination against a citizen. The WCHA has removed the lease provisions, and agreed that they were unconstitutional.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In an order signed by District Judge Sara Darrow, plaintiffs are awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. In her ruling, however, she did not make a constitutional declaration, but only recognized that SAF and the WCHA had agreed in that issue.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Public housing is the last place one would expect to encounter residency provisions that run counter to the Bill of Rights,” Gottlieb said. “We’re delighted that this issue has been resolved to the benefit of Mr. Winbigler and citizens like him.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. [/FONT]​

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[FONT=&quot]< Please e-mail, distribute, and circulate to friends and family >[/FONT]​

Copyright © 2013 Second Amendment Foundation, All Rights Reserved.​

[FONT=&quot]Second Amendment Foundation
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12500 N.E. Tenth Place
Bellevue, WA 98005[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Voice: 425-454-7012
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email: InformationRequest@saf.org[/FONT]​

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[danb]

Go SAF. make them taste it!

 

[Dichotmist]

Good job! I am sure there are plenty more BS entities to go after next!

 

[Boxcab]

...she did not make a constitutional declaration, but only recognized that SAF and the WCHA had agreed in that issue.

Sounds like WCHA (Ill.) folded and agreed to the SAF's demands.

 

[AliasNeo07]

From SAF:

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do you have a link to that page?

 

[Boondock Saint]

Sounds like WCHA (Ill.) folded and agreed to the SAF's demands.

Results are results, but a binding precedent would have been nice. Either way,

 

[paperwork351]

The Chicago Housing Authority lost the public housing ban during the Clinton years. Clinton instructed Reno to "find a way around the Constitution". Maine also lost on this. A tenant doesn't forfeit the right by signing an agreement.

 

[swinokur]

do you have a link to that page?

Nope. Came as an email from SAF.

 

[Al Norris]

Here is what I posted over at TFL:

Case #70, Winbigler v. Warren County, Ill. Housing Authority, has been resolved!

In meetings that occurred last November, the defendant WCHA offered a settlement that included all demands made by Plaintiff Winbigler & SAF.

Yesterday, May 1st, the Judge announced the order. The SAF announcement is here: SAF Press Release :: SAF WINS PERMANENT INJUNCTION V. PUBLIC HOUSING GUN BAN IN ILLINOIS

What took from Nov until yesterday was the Judges decision to grant all relief except the precedential declaratory relief that the lease was unconstitutional. You can read the decision and why everything but this one item was denied (for good reason) here: Order on Motion for Miscellaneous Relief.

What all this is saying is that the defendant threw in the towel and capitulated to all the plaintiffs demands. The court could not declare that the lease provisions were unconstitutional, only because the merits to that claim were never fully briefed. Hence, any such declaration would be an advisory opinion which the Federal Courts are not allowed to make.

David Sigale and the SAF will take fees.