The Justice Department said it will oppose Evanston, Illinois’ planned effort to dismiss the government’s complaint challenging the city’s reparations program. The dispute is part of a broader legal fight over the program, which provides benefits to eligible Black residents and descendants of Black residents with ties to Evanston during a specified period.
An attorney for the city, Precious S. Jacobs-Perry, indicated that Evanston intends to seek dismissal of the federal government’s complaint. A city spokesperson said Evanston would continue defending the program but declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The Justice Department entered the case after a federal judge granted its request to intervene in a civil-rights lawsuit originally filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal watchdog group. The government alleges that Evanston’s program distributes public benefits based on race and ancestry, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the Fair Housing Act. Those are allegations in the complaint, not findings by a court.
A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the department considers the program unlawful under federal law and plans to oppose the city’s dismissal request.
The city’s program offers $25,000, housing-related assistance and cash payments to qualifying Black residents and descendants of Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969. Evanston approved its municipal reparations plan in 2019, pledging $10 million over 10 years, funded through a local cannabis tax.
Mayor Daniel Biss defended the initiative in comments to CNN in June, saying it was intended to address a wealth gap and “pay a debt.”
Judicial Watch’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of six non-Black people who lived in Evanston, or had ancestral ties to the city, during the program’s qualifying era. The plaintiffs say they could not apply because of their race. The lawsuit and the Justice Department’s complaint are related challenges, but the federal government joined the case after Judicial Watch had already brought its action.
U.S. District Judge John F. Kness previously rejected Evanston’s attempt to dismiss Judicial Watch’s lawsuit. That ruling concerned the watchdog group’s case; it does not resolve the Justice Department’s separate complaint or the city’s expected motion against it.
Judicial Watch attorney Michael Bekesha said the group expects the city’s latest dismissal effort to fail and intends to continue its lawsuit. Evanston spokesperson Cynthia Vargas said the city would “vehemently defend” lawsuits against the reparations program. The legal claims remain contested, and the supplied account reports no final ruling on the program’s legality.
