A date has been set for when a three-judge federal court panel will hear a three-case lawsuit opposing Illinois’s new legislative district maps.
The panel – U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr., U.S. District Judge Jon DeGuilio, and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Michael B. Brennan – will begin fielding arguments the week of Dec. 6, Capital News Illinois reported.
State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) made the announcement on his Facebook page.
"A three-judge federal court panel on Friday set the week of Dec. 6 as the time it will hear three consolidated cases challenging the new legislative district maps that were drawn by Democrats and signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker earlier this year," Batinick wrote.
According to Capital News Illinois, Dow Jr., who presides over the panel, said during a status conference held by teleconference on Nov. 5 that he and the two other judges will hear the suits in-person at in the ceremonial courtroom of the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.
Nov. 10 was the date on which the plaintiffs agreed to submit proposed remedies to the court.
Defendants in the litigation are the Illinois State Board of Elections, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch.
Redistricting has been a heated subject in the Illinois General Assembly in the previous months.
Earlier this year, state Democratic legislators drafted and approved a set of maps that would establish the boundaries for all 118 districts in the Illinois House and 59 districts in the state Senate, an act Republican lawmakers argue was done without their or the public’s input, according to Capitol Hill News.
The suit alleges the maps run afoul of the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Rep. Paul Jacobs (R-Pomona) was among the host of GOP leaders who strongly criticized the maps.
According to North Egypt News, Jacobs said the maps signed into law in June ignored the wishes of the public, and that Democrats should have been honest with the public.
Alerts Sign-up