A Supreme Misfire

In a rather gutless move, the Illinois Supreme Court shirked its responsibilities last week by not dealing with the constitutionality of the Illinois Firearm Owners Identification card.

You’ll recall the Vivian Brown case. The elderly White County woman who was charged with violating the law when she was found to have  a rifle in her home without possessing one of the cards. Her attorney argued the case successfully in White County Circuit Court, accurately portraying her arrest as a clear violation of her second amendment rights to bear a firearm for the purpose of self-defense in her own home.

So it went to the Illinois Supreme Court and they’ve punted and sent it back to Carmi. In a split ruling, the majority refused to rule. They packed it back up on a technicality and sent it back to the circuit court. Illinois Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson said, “they decided that they didn’t want to decide.” He thinks White County will rule the same way it did back in 2017 and the Supremes will get the case again, down the road.

Justice Lloyd Karmeier, who voted on the dissenting side said it best. He called it “pointless.” He and Justice Mary Jane Thies said their colleagues ruled in a “meaningless and wasteful” way.

There is a predictable time, in our future, when the powers in this state are not going to be able to ignore the United States Constitution.

But it wasn’t last week.