In the Second Amendment Foundation Gun Case Fee Dispute, the Appeals Court Ruled Against Chicago!
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Chicago's handgun ban last June, civil rights attorney Alan Gura considered himself a winner in the landmark case. Judge Milton Shadur of Chicago federal district court, however, did not see a victory at all. Shadur ruled against Gura's demand for legal fees. Shadur said Gura, of Alexandria's Gura & Possessky, was not the prevailing party because Chicago, days after the high court ruling, repealed and amended the city's gun law. Inducing a defendant to change conduct, the judge said, pointing to Supreme Court precedent isn't enough to declare victory and earn a right to pursue legal fees.
Second Amendment Foundation helped Mr. Gura to take the dispute to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, setting up an appeal that asked the question: What does it mean to "win" in the Supreme Court? This past week, the appeals court answered the question.
A unanimous three-judge panel ruled in favor of Gura's legal fee request, reversing Shadur and sending the dispute back to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The court instructed Shadur to award reasonable fees. Gura has not publicly identified the amount he is seeking from Chicago.
Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook, sitting with Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer, said in the five-page ruling that lead plaintiff Otis McDonald achieved a decision that altered the legal relationship of the parties, he ruled. "Many a defendant gives up after a district court's final decision and does not appeal; some other parties settle to avoid the risk of reversal. If a cessation of hostilities after a district court's decision does not deprive the victor of prevailing party status, why should conceding defeat after a decision by the Supreme Court do so?"
Lawyers for Chicago and the Village of Oak Park argued in the appeal that the Supreme Court ruling addressed a preliminary legal issue that did not resolve the plaintiffs' claims.
A lawyer for Chicago, Suzanne Loose, assistant corporation counsel, said in court papers the high court decision in McDonald v. Chicago did not itself strike down the city's handgun ban. The city, Loose said, voluntarily amended its ordinance in the absence of any court order to make changes.
The appeals court said after the Supreme Court ruled the Second Amendment applies to states and municipalities, the defendant's handgun bans could not be sustained. Easterbrook said Chicago and Oak Park "bowed to the inevitable" before Shadur could issue a final judgment.
"The district court was right to observe that plaintiffs did not receive a favorable judgment from it," Easterbrook said. "But they did better: They won in the Supreme Court, which entered a judgment in their favor."
A spokesperson for the city's Department of Law was not immediately reached by phone and e-mail. The Second Amendment Foundation was VICTORIOUS!
"Obviously we are very pleased with the decision. It's fairly obvious we prevailed in this case and the city is liable for that." Gura said he hopes "the city will come to its senses to resolve this without any additional litigation."
Governments, whether federal, state or local, simply cannot evade their responsibilities to obey the Constitution and adhere to Supreme Court rulings. Such cavalier behavior, were it allowed to go unchecked, would lead to anarchy, or the establishment of imperial government that picks and chooses which laws and court rulings it will obey, and which civil rights it will recognize.
That may be "the Chicago Way," but it's not the American Way.
In spite of the judge's ruling, Chicago government remains extremely HOSTILE to hand gun permits!
Gun prohibitionists cannot have it their way. Our U.S. Constitution, our U.S. Supreme Court, our American traditions, and our Founding Forefathers say so. Simply because they arrogantly believe they are above the law does not make it so.
As a law-abiding, tax-paying, gun-owning citizen, you must help to protect your Constitutionally-given rights, whether it be right where you live, or anywhere around the great country. It is absolutely unbelievable what is happening to gun rights across this great nation of ours, state-by-state-by-state!
This is just one of numerous lawsuits that the Second Amendment Foundation has taken on. EACH lawsuit has a "price-tag" of $60,000 - $80,000!!
The original McDonald v. Chicago case that the Second Amendment Foundation won 15 months ago was the "gateway" that opened up many of these other cases --- and legal victories! We are still in court on nearly TWO DOZEN cases related to gun freedoms!
Every owner of a weapon - 80,000,000 of us -should be indebted to the Second Amendment Foundation, for standing up in various courts of law, to defend the Second Amendment - the rights to keep and bear arms!
The Second Amendment Foundation, according to our Founding Forefathers, is a "mainstream" group of those who adamantly cling to the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution! The Second Amendment GUARANTEES the freedom to own a gun to protect you and your family. AND NO ONE WILL EVER TAKE THAT AWAY! YOU AND I MUST DEMAND that our rights to own a gun are protected!
I look forward to your imperative response.
Sincerely yours, Alan M. Gottlieb, Chairman, Second Amendment Foundation
P. S. Our pro-gun forces must be victorious. Not just because of you and me---but because in many other legal cases that SAF represents---our United States Constitution demands that freedom! Please CLICK HERE to give a generous DONATION to the Second Amendment Foundation to financially assist us in our ongoing lawsuits to help PROTECT YOUR legal rights as a gun owner. Sure, we know it is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of our U.S. Constitution, but we have to let "others in authority" know that! We must continue to expose the Obama Administration's anti-gun strategies! If you prefer to donate by check, please mail to: Second Amendment Foundation, Dept Code 6363, 12500 NE 10th Place, Bellevue, WA 98005 -- Paid for by Second Amendment Foundation 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Contributions are tax deducible. Copyright © 2010 Second Amendment Foundation, All Rights Reserved.
bcc'd "red diaper babies"
