Evanston reparations lawsuit still ongoing, city spokesperson says

Nearly six months after a nonprofit group filed a lawsuit against the city of Evanston to try to halt its groundbreaking reparations program that attempts to amend for past housing discrimination against African American residents, the legal case is still ongoing, according to the city of Evanston’s Communications and Engagement Manager, Cynthia Vargas. On Oct. 2, lawyers representing the city of Evanston filed a second motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the conservative nonprofit group Judicial Watch in May. Evanston first filed to dismiss the lawsuit in July, and Judicial Watch filed to oppose the dismissal in September. It will now be up to a federal judge to keep the case moving forward and schedule a hearing or to dismiss it outright, according to Judicial Watch’s president, Tom Fitton. Fitton earlier told the Tribune that Evanston’s program is “just a proxy for giving out money to people based on race.” Evanston’s Reparations Committee announced in September that the city had paid over $5 million to Evanston residents who were impacted by racist zoning laws, such as redlining and restrictive real estate covenants, which restricted Black residents from living in some geographic regions of Evanston from 1919 to 1969. The...