Cook County judge tosses lawsuit brought by Pfleger, other activists, over gun shop regulation [View all]

http://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/510698657-cook-county-judge-tosses-lawsuit-brought-by-pfleger-other-activists-vs-suburbs-over-gun-shop-regulation

"A Cook County judge has abruptly ended an attempt by a coalition of Chicago community activists, including Fr. Michael Pfleger and others, to use an Illinois civil rights law to force suburban communities to more stringently regulate gun shops operating within their borders, who the activists say are responsible for a disproportionate share of the firearms used by criminals and gangbangers to terrorize Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2015 alleged the villages, located in suburban Cook County, allowed gun shops in their communities to “sell guns in a manner that disproportionately jeopardizes the lives of African-Americans, causes mental anguish and distress and diminishes the value of their homes and other property.” This, the activists’ complaint said, violated the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, which forbids municipalities from engaging in policies that create and have a disparate negative impact on racial and ethnic minorities.

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But even if the plaintiffs could establish standing to bring the action, the judge said their case fell short altogether, as it failed to establish a legally recognizable link between the suburban villages’ policies and the gun violence in the Chicago neighborhoods. The judge particularly noted even the report, which formed the basis of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit, “does not attribute illegal firearm sales and gun violence to the defendants’ regulation of firearms dealers.”

The short version is they wanted to be able to regulate stores that weren't even in Cook County with Chicago's laws. The judge had to break the news to them that they were not even close to reality.

Father "Flaky" Pfleger pisses away another 10 thousand $$$ or so on attorneys fees for a suit that never had a chance, even with a sympathetic judge. Well, it's not like it's his money anyway.