DOJ punches back after Illinois city moves to dismiss lawsuit against 'race-based' reparations program

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Justice (DOJ) is pushing back after the city of Evanston, Illinois, signaled plans to throw out a federal lawsuit challenging its race-based reparations program.

The legal standoff escalated after a federal judge granted the Justice Department’s request to intervene and join the civil rights lawsuit originally brought by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.

Attorney Precious S. Jacobs-Perry, who represents Evanston, indicated the Chicago suburb intends to file a motion to dismiss the government's complaint, while insisting the city will not back down on its program.

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"Evanston’s race-based 'reparations' program is illegal under federal law. We will be opposing the motion to dismiss," a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Monday.

Democratic Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss has fired back against critics of the program, telling CNN in June it was done to attack a wealth gap and "pay a debt."

The initiative provides $25,000, direct, housing-related benefits and cash payments to Black residents and descendants of Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969. In 2019, Evanston became the first U.S. city to approve a municipal reparations plan, pledging $10 million over a decade funded by a local cannabis tax.

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However, the DOJ contends the suburb’s program unlawfully distributes taxpayer benefits based strictly on race and ancestry. In its complaint, federal prosecutors allege the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment as well as the Fair Housing Act.

The Justice Department’s aggressive stance comes after U.S. District Judge John F. Kness previously denied Evanston’s attempt to toss out Judicial Watch's underlying lawsuit.

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Judicial Watch filed the class-action civil rights lawsuit on behalf of six non-Black individuals who lived in or had ancestral ties to Evanston during the qualifying era but were barred from applying due to their race.

"Evanston’s $25,000 government payments based on race are blatantly unconstitutional," Judicial Watch attorney Michael Bekesha told Fox News Digital. "Evanston already tried and failed to dismiss Judicial Watch’s lawsuit, and we do not expect its latest effort to dismiss the Justice Department’s complaint to succeed."

Bekesha, senior attorney for Judicial Watch’s Constitutional Rights Litigation Program, added: "Regardless of what happens with the Justice Department’s case, Judicial Watch will continue fighting to end Evanston’s racist reparations program once and for all."

Evanston spokesperson Cynthia Vargas said, "The City of Evanston does not comment on pending litigation, but we will continue to vehemently defend any lawsuit brought against our City's reparations program."