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The Justice Department plans to oppose Evanston, Illinois’ expected effort to dismiss the government’s complaint challenging the city’s reparations program, Fox News reported Monday, as the city continues to defend the program in federal court.
A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News that the department would oppose the motion to dismiss. The statement is the department’s reported litigation position, not a new court ruling on whether the program is lawful.
The city’s dismissal request was described as planned. Evanston Now reported October 29 that an attorney representing the city told U.S. District Judge John Kness that Evanston intended to seek dismissal of the DOJ’s complaint. The local outlet said the motion had not been filed as of that Thursday morning.
Federal complaint alleges discrimination
The Justice Department’s official case page says the United States filed its complaint in intervention on October 16 in Flinn & United States v. City of Evanston. The government alleges the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fair Housing Act.
In its complaint, the department argues that the city offers cash payments and housing assistance based on the race of residents or their ancestors while excluding similarly situated people of other races. Those are allegations advanced by the government, not findings resolving the case.
The complaint describes benefits of $25,000 for qualifying Black former or current residents who lived in Evanston as adults between 1919 and 1969, and qualifying descendants. It says payments have included unrestricted cash, mortgage assistance, repairs and renovations.
City vows to defend the program
Evanston maintains that the program addresses past discrimination. Fox reported that city spokesperson Cynthia Vargas declined to discuss pending litigation but said the city would continue to defend lawsuits against its reparations program.
The federal government’s complaint is part of a case originally brought in 2024 by Judicial Watch on behalf of six non-Black plaintiffs. The DOJ joined that litigation after receiving permission from Kness, rather than starting an entirely separate challenge.
A planned request to dismiss the government’s complaint is also distinct from the city’s earlier effort to dismiss the original plaintiffs’ lawsuit. Evanston Now reported that the judge previously allowed that case to proceed.
The next dispute concerns whether the federal complaint can move forward. Monday’s reported DOJ response does not establish that the city has filed its planned motion, that the judge has ruled on it or that the underlying constitutional questions have been settled.
JBizNews Desk | Chicago
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