Evanston Reparations Program Faces Legal Challenge Over Constitutionality

A landmark reparations program in Evanston, Illinois, intended to address historical racial discrimination, is facing a constitutional battle. A group of residents, backed by the conservative organization Judicial Watch, have filed a federal lawsuit against the city, contesting the program’s legality under the U.S. Constitution, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The lawsuit alleges the program violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by solely granting funds to Black residents with historical ties to Evanston. An amount of $25,000 for housing and now also available in direct cash, the program aims to compensate for a segregated past spanning from 1919 to 1969. Plaintiffs in the suit, none of whom identifies as Black, assert their exclusion is based purely on race and demand equivalent reparations payments, as reported by the Judicial Watch. Launched by the Evanston City Council in 2021, the reparations scheme was pioneering as the first of its kind and is fueled by a $10 million budget supported by local cannabis sales tax. To date, the city has reported distributing approximately $1 million of these funds. “This scheme unconstitutionally discriminates against anyone who does not identify as Black or African American,” Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch said...