Examining the
Questions That Matter

Declaration of Grievance

The United States Constitution, Article IV Section 4 states in part: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

The Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 1 declares that: All men are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent and inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Failure of the Government of Illinois to provide a Republican Form of Government In a republican form of government:

• Power benefits the people, not just a ruler and his cronies.
• In a republican form of government, unlike a pure democracy, there is a check on the majority in order to protect the minority (James Madison, Federalist #10).
• In a republican form of government, we have “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” (Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address).
• In a republican form of government, the government derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the people (James Madison, Federalist #39).

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Reynolds v. Sims (1964) removed any geographic element from districting for the state legislature. At that time, Illinois’ U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen warned that this would cause power to be concentrated in the major metropolitan area of Chicago and Cook County and result in rural areas losing their voice in state government.

This concentration of power led to a lack of accountability, which allowed extreme gerrymandering, further eroding the voice of the people and consolidating power in a political machine.

This concentration of power allowed one county with 40% of the population to dominate the other 101 counties with 60% of the population. The people of rural, small town and suburban Illinois do not experience a republican form of government. Because the General Assembly is dominated by one county, outstate Illinoisans have experienced legislation, taxation, and regulation without representation.

In addition, rules of the Illinois House of Representatives have placed dictatorial power into the hands of the speaker. No legislation can go forward without his approval, thus destroying the vestiges of representative government by silencing those representing outstate Illinoisans.

This Concludes These Proceedings

Declaration of Grievance

The United States Constitution, Article IV Section 4 states in part: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

The Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 1 declares that: All men are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent and inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Failure of the Government of Illinois to provide a Republican Form of Government A Republican Form of Government is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In a republic, the will of the people is expressed through their votes.

Voting in a free and fair election is a basic civil right. Election integrity is essential for representative government to exist.

Any form of voter or election fraud dilutes the authentic voice of the people. With election fraud, government of the people becomes an illusion.

In 1974 the US Supreme Court upheld convictions for ballot box stuffing. The Court stated that every voter has “a right under the Constitution to have his vote fairly counted, without being distorted by fraudulently cast votes” (Anderson v. United States, 1974).

Tragically, Illinois has a decades-long history of such distortion. “Illinois” has become a byword for election fraud and dead voters. Because of this, the incompetent and corrupt government of the State of Illinois has failed to provide the people with representative government.

Between 2002 and 2018, there were 52 convictions for voter fraud in the State of Illinois. This number only represents those caught and convicted. In most cases, sentences were mild and included no jail time. Offenses included

• Ineligible voting
• Ballot petition fraud
• Duplicate voting
• False registrations (such as using a vacant lot for an address, registering in a city where one does not live, or registering dozens of people as living in the same house)
• Fraudulent use of absentee ballots
• Felony forgery and perjury (such as providing phony signatures of dead people)
• Buying votes, and
• Conspiracy to commit election fraud.

Election fraud has a greater impact than voter fraud, because it is more organized, large scale cheating. It involves candidates, campaigns or parties illegally influencing an election. Methods include

• Ballot stuffing
• Manipulating results
• Bribery
• Intimidation, and
• Forgery

It has long been rumored that in 1960 Mayor Richard J. Daley used his political machine to stuff the ballot box in Chicago and deliver Illinois’ electoral votes for President Kennedy. While this was never proven, 680 people in Cook County were charged with election fraud at that time. Three went to jail, and 677 were acquitted by a judge who was a Daley crony.

Following the 1982 Illinois governor’s election, Chicago was the site of the largest voter fraud case in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Attorney estimated that at least 100,000 fraudulent votes had been cast in Chicago. This amounted to 10% of the city’s votes. Sixty-three people were convicted. This fraud came to light when a party worker blew the whistle after he didn’t get the city job he’d been promised for participating in the fraud.

In 2005, an East St. Louis politician was indicted for plotting to kill a witness in a year-long Illinois federal vote fraud investigation.

A 2016 investigation found that hundreds of dead people had continued to vote in Chicago during the previous decade. This was discovered by merging Board of Election voter histories with Social Security death files. In many cases, families had tried to get their deceased relatives removed from the voter rolls multiple times, but without success.

This sort of voter fraud exists when a state government refuses to perform their due diligence and remove deceased voters from their records.

In July 2018, Illinois began providing automatic voter registrations with driver’s license applications and renewals. On December 18, 2019, the Secretary of State’s office announced that 574 non-citizens had been registered to vote under this system and that some of them had illegally voted.

In April 2018, the City of Chicago began its CityKey ID program for all residents, regardless of immigration status. The CityKey is a valid form of ID for voter registration. City officials claim that it cannot be used by noncitizens to register to vote. However, as we review the history of voter fraud in Chicago, we do not share their confidence and believe this will be another means of diluting the vote of outstate Illinoisans. The State of Illinois did nothing to address this threat and stand up for its people.

By allowing the proliferation of all types of fraud, the State of Illinois has allowed the voice of the people to be diminished and has deprived its citizens of a republican form of government.

This Concludes These Proceedings

Declaration of Grievance

United States Constitution, Article IV Section 4 states in part: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of Government.

United States Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1 states in part: No State shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Illinois Constitution, Article IV, Section 3a states in part: Legislative Districts shall be compact. Representative Districts shall be compact.

Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 1 declares in part: To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Failure of the Government of Illinois to provide a Republican Form of Government A Republican Form of Government is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Power is to benefit the people, not the rulers.

The people of rural, small town and suburban Illinois do not experience a republican form of government. Power is concentrated in Chicago and urban Cook County. Forty percent of the state population dominates the other sixty percent. With the General Assembly controlled by one county, downstate Illinoisans experience legislation, taxation, and regulation without representation.

Extreme gerrymandering is used by the Cook County Political Machine to undermine representative government. Extreme gerrymandering has consolidated the Machine’s dominance of the State of Illinois and consistently degraded the influence of 101 counties. In Illinois, politicians pick their voters and rob the citizens of their voice. The Decatur Herald & Review editorial board has called Illinois’ gerrymandering “an abuse of power.”

Gerrymandering is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries to entrench a governing party’s political control. District maps fix the ruling party’s grip on power through unfair

advantage. Incumbents are protected and kept in office. By design, Illinois’ gerrymandering consistently degrades the influence of downstate voters. The voices of opponents are diluted or cut out entirely.

Gerrymandering is accomplished through “packing and cracking.” Opponents are concentrated into as few districts as possible. The rest are split up and distributed across several districts to diminish the value of their votes. Formerly competitive districts are reshaped so the ruling party wins. The Machine advances its own agenda and buries the needs and interests of outstate Illinoisans.

In a republican form of government, power is to benefit the people, not just a ruler and his cronies. Illinois Machine politicians gerrymander to benefit themselves. They extinguish government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The U. S. Supreme Court has addressed gerrymandering numerous times.

• In 1986, the Court found that partisan gerrymandering was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment if the resulting electoral system “is arranged in a manner that will consistently degrade a voter’s or a group of voters’ influence in the political process as a whole.”

• In 2019, the Court ruled that election districts drawn to benefit a political party can be considered unconstitutional. However, the majority stated that this is a political issue and beyond the reach of federal courts. The remedy is left to the states and to Congress. In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan called partisan gerrymanders “debased” and said that they turn “upside-down the core American idea that all governmental power derives from the people. These gerrymanders enable politicians to entrench themselves in office as against voters’ preferences. They promoted partisanship above respect for the popular will. They encouraged a politics of polarization and dysfunction. If left unchecked, gerrymanders like the ones here may irreparably damage our system of government.”

Article IV, Section 3(a) of the Illinois Constitution requires districts to be compact; yet, both state and federal districts have shapes resembling snakes, dinosaurs, gloves, jaws, and a pipe wrench. This includes the “earmuffs” district, which The Economist called one of the “most strangely drawn and gerrymandered congressional districts in the country.”

In 2016, over 563,000 Illinois citizens from both sides of the aisle signed the Independent Maps Initiative to establish an independent commission to handle redistricting. This was struck down as unconstitutional, because the Illinois Constitution strictly limits ballot initiatives, in a way that is unique to Illinois. The opposition was led by former Speaker Madigan. Speaker Madigan’s power for over 30 years was derived from his ability to draw legislative maps to protect incumbents and retain Machine control.

In 2019, the Illinois General Assembly introduced a resolution for a Fair Maps constitutional amendment. That effort failed.

Gerrymandering in Illinois has produced uncompetitive districts to the degree that a MAJORITY of Illinois legislative seats are uncontested. In these districts, the general election has become pointless.

Reform in Illinois is unlikely, because it would require the approval of the very politicians who are gaming the system.

The State of Illinois is totally broken. It’s time to start over.

This Concludes These Proceedings

Declaration of Grievance

The United States Constitution, Article IV Section 4 states in part: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of Government…

The Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 1 declares that: …Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The Illinois Constitution, Article IV, Section 8, subsection (d) states in part: A bill shall be read by title on three different days in each house. A bill and each amendment thereto shall be reproduced and placed on the desk of each member before final passage. Bills, except bills for appropriations and for the codification, revision or rearrangement of laws, shall be confined to one subject.

Failure of the Government of Illinois to provide a Republican Form of Government A Republican Form of Government is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Power is to benefit the people, not the rulers. In a republican form of government, the government derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the people.

To function as intended, a republican form of government requires transparency. Without transparency, the people don’t know what their lawmakers are doing, and are therefore cheated of their ability to act. Transparency provides a defense against corruption and tyranny.

What is a shell bill? Shell bills are vehicles of legal corruption. Also called fake bills, trojan horses, or carrier vehicles, they are designed to sidestep the state constitution and avoid transparency. Shells begin as legislative bills with little content. Their only purpose is to be amended later.

The Illinois Constitution, Article IV, Sec. 8(d), requires a bill to be read by title on 3 different days in each house. Rules require that bills must be posted 6 days before a hearing so the public

can know about it, and so there will be time for debate and media scrutiny. However, amendments only need to be posted for an hour.

Both parties use shell bills. In 2017, Speaker Madigan passed 936 of them, and Minority Leader Durkin passed 528.

There are 2 uses for shell bills.

First, they are often used as placeholders for yet unwritten bills in order to circumvent the filing deadlines.

A bill may be one-page long in January, appropriating $2 for a government bureau. In late May, right before the end of the legislative session, it is amended and morphs into a $40 billion budget bill. It’s now 1500 pages long and lands on the legislators’ desks two hours before the vote. In 2016, such a bill was introduced, passed, and signed into law on a single day.

Article IV, Sec. 8 of the IL Constitution requires that A bill and each amendment thereto shall be reproduced and placed on the desk of each member before final passage. Shell bills render this requirement meaningless. It is not representative government if the legislators you elected don’t know what they’re voting on.

This practice allows legislators to rush through things like pay raises for themselves or goodies for special interest groups without giving the public an opportunity to know or respond.

The second use of shell bills is to facilitate a more serious betrayal of the citizens’ trust. One could even call it treachery.

Politicians use this shell game to hide the real content of bills. Toward the end of the legislative session, they amend the bill by gutting the original language and replacing it with something else. They unethically rush through major, and sometimes controversial bills at the end of the session. A questionable amendment can get voted on immediately with no opportunity for debate and review. Laws are created that would never pass without sneaking it through so that citizens or even legislators are unaware of it.

The principle of germaneness is essential for orderly legislation. The US House of Representatives adopted a germaneness rule early on. It is not germane to add an amendment unrelated to the original topic. It is not germane when the content of the bill is unrelated to its title. The goal is to hide it from YOU so that YOU are hindered from acting.

Examples of Shell Bills

In 2007, HB1685 was introduced as a 2-page bill allowing high school students to be appointed as election judges. The name of the bill was, and remains, “Junior Judges.” A few months later, the entire content was replaced with the ratification of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. This means that Illinois’ electoral votes will not go to the presidential candidate who

wins Illinois, but to whoever wins the popular vote of the whole country. This compact violates the U.S. Constitution, but it passed the Illinois General Assembly.

In 2019, HB1438 was filed on the topic of pawnbroker regulation. At the end of the legislative session, the bill was amended, removing all language and replacing it with the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. This bill passed.

In 2019, SB 25 began as a non-controversial bill about psychiatric exams. An amendment at the end of the legislative session changed it to the Reproductive Health Act, a bill concerning abortion. This bill passed.

In 2019, SB1966 was introduced as the Public Defender Bail Program, but near the end of the legislative session it was changed to a bill raising the price of the Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID) and including requirements for fingerprinting and insurance.

In February 2019, HB3653 was introduced, addressing the topic of inmates registering to vote upon discharge. Nearly 2 years later, on January 13, 2021, Amendment 2 deleted all previous language and replaced it with a massive criminal justice reform plan. It passed both houses on the same day the language was changed, the last day of the lame-duck session. This law was opposed almost universally by district attorneys and police chiefs throughout the state.

In 2020, SB2762 was introduced. It was a ½ page bill amending the school code about English language instruction in public schools. It changed the word “and” to the word “and.” (You heard me right.) It was later amended to become a 45-page bill about sex education.

James Madison, the main author of the U.S. Constitution, stated that: "a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."

Shell bills are a tool used by the corrupt government of the State of Illinois to deprive the people of knowledge and thus undermine a republican form of government.

Limiting or abolishing shell bills would require the approval of the very politicians who benefit from them. This problem will only be solved through the constitutional formation of a new state.

This Concludes These Proceedings

Declaration of Grievance

The United States Constitution, Article IV Section 4 states in part: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of Government…

The Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 1 declares that: …Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The Illinois Constitution, Article IV, Section 7, subsection (a) states: Committees of each house, joint committees of the two houses and legislative commissions shall give reasonable public notice of meetings, including a statement of subjects to be considered.

Failure of the Government of Illinois to provide a Republican Form of Government A Republican Form of Government is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Power is to benefit the people, not the rulers. In a republican form of government, the government derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the people.

The Rules of the Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives operates under a set of House Rules. Many of them are routine, but some are pernicious, undermining a republican form of government, which is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

These rules are Machiavellian, not intended to benefit the people of Illinois, but to amass power to the Speaker of the House. The Illinois Speaker wields more power than any other speaker in the country. Few other states employ any of these rules; in some states they are illegal.

These rules include:

1. The Speaker has complete control of committee chairs. Chairs are paid an extra $10,000 annually, even though Illinois lawmakers are some of the highest paid in the country, and even though some of these committees rarely or never meet. Committee chairs serve at “the pleasure of the Speaker,” and he can appoint or remove them at will, so they vote the way he wants.

2. The Speaker can shuffle members on and off committees—that way his people can avoid casting a risky vote. No one knows who will be voting when a bill comes up, so there is no transparency or accountability.

3. The Speaker has the power to determine what becomes law, because he can prevent bills from ever getting voted on. In a republican form of government, people vote for lawmakers who will represent them. In Illinois, house rules take the power to legislate away from those we elect. Some of the scuttled bills have included: term limits, supported by 80% of the people; a ban on lobbying by legislators, supported by 61% of the people; and the Fair Maps Initiative, supported by 64% of the people, and which would have ended extreme partisan gerrymandering.

4. The speaker can call any bill to be voted on at any time. In other states, legislatures have a calendar so that people know when a bill will be voted on. The calendar enables representatives to do their jobs competently—they can research, debate, and be prepared to vote. In Illinois, the speaker can call for a bill to be voted on after hours, making sure his supporters are present, but his opponents have left. A bill hundreds of pages long can be voted on at midnight, shortly after it’s been filed.

A republican form of government requires transparency, but under these rules the Speaker obscures and manipulates the workings of the House. The Speaker has been allowed to become an autocrat; that is, one ruling as a monarch with unlimited authority, who has undisputed influence and power. How can Government derive its “just powers from the consent of the governed” when the people are kept in the dark and are cheated of their ability to act?

Transparency provides a defense against corruption and tyranny. But for nearly 40 years, Speaker Madigan betrayed the citizens’ trust. He was loyal to himself and his cronies, not to the people of Illinois. We the People experienced Tyranny, with a leader unrestrained by the law or the constitution, seizing more power than he had a right to.

In January 2021, the new speaker was selected, Emmanuel Chris Welch. He promised to reform the house rules and provide a more transparent process. However, the changes made to the rules were of little consequence, such as allowing remote meetings during a pestilence or public danger.

Mike Madigan is gone, but his ghost lives on in the House Rules, because one person can still shut the whole legislative process down. This corrupt structure silences the will of the People.

The legislature of the State of Illinois works on behalf of a corrupt political machine and has undermined representation and debate. The citizens demand a state run by We the People, not We the Government.

This Concludes These Proceedings

Declaration of Grievance

The United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 4 states in part: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of Government…

The United States Constitution, Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 states in part: No State shall, without the Consent of Congress...enter into any Agreement or Compact with Another state…

The State of Illinois Betrayed the People of Illinois by Giving Away Our Vote in Presidential Elections. Our Lawmakers Violated Their Oath of Office by Engaging in Unconstitutional Action. Our Founding Fathers created something called the Electoral College. They did this to make sure that all states were represented on equal footing, regardless of population. It protects smaller states that don’t have huge cities like New York and Chicago. The number of electors for each state equals its total number of U.S. Senators and Representatives.

Without the Electoral College, the Constitution would not have been adopted. The smaller states would never have agreed to it. If we didn’t have the Electoral College, urban areas would control the whole country.

The Framers of the Constitution strongly rejected the idea of a direct popular vote for president. Why? Because it would favor the large states. People trying to get rid of the Electoral College today claim that it’s not democratic. This isn’t true. People vote democratically within their own states. The Electoral college then protects the STATES from the tyranny of the majority.

The Framers wanted representation for each state, not just the densely populated areas. We already have this problem in Illinois – Cook County has 40% of the people but controls the state government. The other 101 counties have 60% of the people but have little power. Without the

Electoral College, the same thing will happen to the whole country. Rural America will lose its voice. Do you want your protection erased?

Another reason the Framers wanted the Electoral College was to prevent corruption. They wanted to avoid “combinations” among the states. Each individual state was supposed to vote for its own interests. Electors were to meet in their own states, on the same day, to prevent large states from influencing the smaller ones. The Founders saw that deals between states could break the Republic apart. They could divide the nation into rivals pitted against each other.

Because the Electoral College is in the Constitution, the only way to change it or get rid of it is by amending the Constitution. However, in 2008 Illinois politicians joined in a deal with other states to go around the Constitution and violate our rights. This deal will be activated as soon as a few more states sign onto it.

What is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact?

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, or NPVC, is exactly the kind of “combination” that the Founders wanted to STOP. The NPVC is an agreement between states to give their electoral votes to whatever candidate wins the national popular vote. This means that your electoral votes could go to the candidate who might be the worst one for your state. Your state’s electors would be forced to ignore your own state’s interests. This endangers the protection that the Founding Fathers gave you, the voters.

The NPVC is Unconstitutional

The Constitution gives the states the power to choose the WAY in which their electors are selected. However, it doesn’t give them the power to appoint electors based on the votes of citizens in other states. And states don’t have the power to undo our electoral system.

Changing the Electoral College can only be done by amending the Constitution. That needs the approval of Congress and ¾ of the states. The NPVC tries to make this change through only a MINORITY of the states. This would take away the right of all the other states to have a voice in this decision.

Also, the NPVC violates Article I, Sec. 10 of the Constitution – the Compacts Clause. No state can enter into a compact with another state without the approval of Congress. The NPVC has not been approved by Congress. And even if Congress wanted to approve this Compact, it can’t— because this Compact is trying to change the Constitution without amending it.

The Corrupt State of Illinois was the first to introduce this bill and the third to pass it. Like many other bills in Illinois, it started as a “shell bill.” Shell bills are tools politicians use to hide what they are doing from the people. The bill started as 2 pages on a harmless topic. Months later, the content was gutted and replaced with the NPVC, voted on and signed into law.

This bill is an example of the great divide between Cook County and the rest of the state. In Chicago, the vote was 96% YES in the Illinois House and 93% YES in the Senate. Outside of Cook County, the vote was 64% NO in the House and 53% NO in the Senate.

This Compact has been adopted by 15 states and Washington DC. Supporters fail to mention that EVERY place that passed the Compact is controlled by the same political party. This Compact is a scheme to grab power, not to make sure that every vote counts.

Conclusion

This Compact destroys what the Founders intended. It corrupts our Republican form of government and will protect only urban interests. It violates our rights, and all politicians who support it violate our rights and break their oath of office.

Did you know that 13 years ago our state government joined in a scheme to betray you and rob you of your voice in presidential elections?

This Concludes These Proceedings

Declaration of Grievance

The United States Constitution, 2ndAmendment A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The Illinois Constitution, Article I – Bill of Rights Section 1. Inherent and Inalienable Rights All men are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent and inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The Illinois State Constitution Violates Our 2nd Amendment Rights The United States Declaration of Independence declares that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights. This means that they were not given to us by Government, and Government cannot take them away. Rather, the purpose of Government is to PROTECT these rights. Governments are to obtain their just powers from the People.

The United States Bill of Rights spells out some of these unalienable Rights. One of them, the 2nd Amendment, states that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed—meaning that this God-given right cannot be restricted by governmental edict.

During the 1960s, some began to say that the 2nd Amendment wasn’t an individual right. In their opinion, it gave members of the military, but not ordinary citizens, the right to possess firearms.

That’s not the way the Founding Fathers saw it. One thing they all agreed upon was that the government had no authority to disarm the people.

In order to affirm that the 2nd Amendment was for individual citizens, some of the delegates to the 1969-70 Illinois Constitutional Convention wanted to include it in the state bill of rights. But convention transcripts show that delegates disagreed about gun control. Some wanted to leave the right to keep and bear arms out of the Illinois Constitution. Something called the “Police

Power Clause” was added to make this right more acceptable to the delegates who wanted to omit it.

The Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 22 states: Subject only to the police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

What did Section 22 mean now? Were the writers of the Illinois Constitution guaranteeing the 2nd Amendment AND undoing it in the same sentence?

The Police Power Clause created confusion. Even the delegates couldn’t say what it meant or predict how it would play out. Delegates noted that the State had the absolute right to regulate for public health and safety. Some said that the police power to limit firearm possession included anything except for a total ban. It was left for the courts to figure out the meaning.

One law professor pointed out that “Cases interpreting Section 22 have favored governmental regulations. They have noted that gun ownership and use is not a fundamental right…”

But all God-given rights ARE “fundamental rights.” These are absolutes, not to be diminished.

Our U. S. Bill of Rights has a natural order. The First Amendment addresses five absolute, personal, God-given rights essential for our Republic to function. These are freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, of assembly and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Logically, the Second Amendment comes immediately afterward. It reminds those in government that We the People have an absolute right to change and, if necessary, overthrow an oppressive and dictatorial government. An absolute Second Amendment is a defense against tyranny and a reminder to all tyrants of the inalienable rights we hold.

The government of the State of Illinois has drifted from acknowledging—or seemingly, even understanding—these truths. Because of this, they have usurped the God-given rights of We the People. Delegates to the 1969-70 Illinois Constitutional Convention had no pangs of conscience about using ambiguous language to undermine the Right of the People to defend their liberty.

In 1981 Morton Grove, Illinois became the first American community to ban handguns. In 1984, the Illinois Supreme Court seized upon this ambiguous language to uphold the ban. They chipped away at the absolute right to keep and bear arms by putting it on the same level as banning the sale of sparklers.

The federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Illinois Supreme Court, in an intentional rewriting of history, stated that the right to keep and bear arms "does not lie at the heart of the relationship between individuals and their government." Our Founding Fathers believed the opposite.

In Federalist 29, Alexander Hamilton wrote that an army could never cause you to fear for your liberties “while there is a large body of citizens, little, if at all, inferior to them in discipline and the use of arms, who stand ready to defend their own rights and those of their fellow-citizens.” In other words, an armed people can defend itself from a government that seeks to take away its liberty.

In District of Columbia v Heller (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the individual right to bear arms and overruled the diminishing of our rights by the Morton Grove cases. The Village of Morton Grove consequently repealed its handgun ban in 2008.

But these rulings have not stopped attempts by the Illinois legislature, courts, and various local governments to infringe on the God-given right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms. We the People of New Illinois are reclaiming our 2nd Amendment rights. We the People of New Illinois stand ready to defend our own rights and those of our fellow citizens!

Therefore, we publish this 7th Grievance to warn Illinois government bodies at all levels not to attempt to take away the essential, God-given personal rights contained in the Bill of Rights, especially the Second Amendment.

This Concludes These Proceedings

See Quilici v. Village of Morton Grove (7th Cir, 1982) 695 F.2d 261; Kalodimos v. Village of Morton Grove (1984) 103 Ill. 2d 483, 470 N.E.2d 266

See District of Columbia v Heller (2008) 554 U.S. 570, 171 L.Ed.2d, 128 S. Ct. 2783 and McDonald v City of Chicago (2010) 561 U.S. 742, 177 L.Ed.2d 894, 130 S. Ct. 3020

Declaration of Grievance

United States Constitution, Article IV Section 4 (the Guarantee Clause) states in part: The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a Republican Form of Government.

United States Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section 1 states in part: No State shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights, Article I, Section 1 declares in part: To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. (Emphasis added)

Illinois Constitution, Article IV, Section 3(b) states: In the year following each Federal decennial census year, the General Assembly by law shall redistrict the Legislative Districts and the Representative Districts. If no redistricting plan becomes effective by June 30 of that year, a Legislative Redistricting Commission shall be constituted not later than July 10. The Commission shall consist of eight members, no more than four of whom shall be members of the same political party.

A Secretive and Politically Biased Redistricting Process Deprives the People of Representative Government and Equal Protection of the Laws. The US Constitution is designed to PROTECT CITIZENS FROM THE GOVERNMENT. Our Founders put the census in the Constitution because they wanted it to be a tool to empower the people by determining their representation in Congress. Such empowerment marked a turning point in world history. Previously, countries had used their census for taxing, confiscating property, or for a military draft. Here, the Constitution utilizes the census to put power into the hands of the people.

New Illinois’ Grievance 3 discusses how extreme and arbitrary gerrymandering in Illinois has deprived the people of representative government. A Republican form of Government is government of the People, by the People, and for the People. For decades, Illinois politicians have drawn districts, not to represent the people, but to consolidate their own power. The U.S. Constitution was designed TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT; yet Illinois’ redistricting process benefits politicians instead of the people. This means that Illinois politicians fail to follow the spirit of the Constitution they swore to uphold.

We must look at, not just the gerrymandered districts, but the process creating them. In 2021, brazen hypocrisy and unvarnished corruption defined the drawing and adoption of new maps.

The Illinois Constitution says that maps must be passed by June 30. This deadline does not mean that maps can’t be created later. It only means that the mapmaking process will be taken from the legislature and given to a bipartisan commission.

Covid-19 delayed the release of the census data. Rather than wait and lose political advantage, the redistricting committee used data from the American Community Survey. The Census Bureau warns that the American Community Survey data is not accurate and not appropriate to use for drawing maps. State legislators on the redistricting committee claimed that they had obtained data from several sources, but this was a lie. The only other source the committee used was voting data revealing the districts’ party preferences.

This charade resulted in blatantly partisan and geographically biased maps.

Fourteen minority party representatives were drawn into seven districts. This means they are forced to run against each other, and half of them will lose. It also means their old districts will have no incumbent, so the minority party will lose the advantage of incumbency. The majority party holds twice as many seats as the minority party, yet NONE of their representatives were drawn into districts where they would be running against each other.

More significantly, this face-off is grossly biased against Downstate. Illinois has 118 house districts. Forty-three are either entirely or almost entirely in Cook County. Fifteen other districts are split between Cook and one or more counties. This means that 58 districts, nearly half of the total, are wholly or partly in Cook County. Yet only ONE of the fourteen representatives affected is from a district entirely in Cook County (54th). One represents a district mostly in DuPage County (45th) that contains a sliver of Cook.

Last spring, the majority party stated that the maps would be accurate. When the U.S. Census was published in August, it became clear that they were not, and the maps were adjusted. The voting rights group Common Cause Illinois refused to participate in hearings on the adjusted maps. They did not want to add legitimacy to what they called “pure politics.” With little notice given to the public, the maps were released less than a day before they were voted on.

Governor Pritzker’s Failure: Candidate J.B. Pritzker, a resident of Chicago, pledged to veto any maps created by legislators, political party leaders, their staffs, or their allies. He campaigned

on the idea of a constitutional amendment to create an independent commission to draw legislative maps. He urged both parties to agree to such a commission.

Despite his campaign promises, in 2021 Gov. Pritzker opposed efforts to create the independent commission, while still claiming he would veto any unfair map. However, he REMOVED his opposition to a politically drawn one. Once again, the spirit of the Constitution to put the power into the hands of the people was being circumvented by our politicians.

Legislative Failure: In 2021, Speaker Welch, who represents Illinois’ 7th District in Cook County, said that members of both parties need to “work together in an open and transparent manner.” The redistricting process, he claimed, needed to be “open for the world to see how it’s done.”

The opposite happened. Behind locked doors, Speaker Welch met with members of his party only. He showed them prospective maps and heard their input. EVEN THE MINORITY PARTY MEMBERS OF THE REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE WERE LOCKED OUT OF THE ROOM! The politicians hid the decision-making process from the People and, once again, the spirit of the Constitution was violated.

Gov Pritzker lied to We the People and refused to veto highly partisan maps. Speaker Welch lied to We the People and conducted a secretive process that shut them out.

Therefore, We the People publish this 8th Grievance to remind Illinois government bodies at all levels that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. The purpose of government is to secure our rights. The Government of Illinois has become destructive of these ends as demonstrated by the corrupt redistricting process. Accordingly, it is the Right and the Duty of the People to alter or abolish it and institute new government.

The People of New Illinois seek a constitutional remedy to the abuse of powers and declare that it is necessary for us to dissolve the political bands which have connected us to the State of Illinois. We are invoking the founding principles of the United States of America and reclaiming our liberty and our rights. More importantly, we are invoking the spirit upon which this country was founded: representatives that protect its citizens FROM THE GOVERNMENT; not ones that favor the government, and by extension, its representatives, over its people.

Enough! Now is the time for the 51st State of New Illinois!

This Concludes These Proceedings

Declaration of Grievance

The Declaration of Independence states: That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

This is not happening in Illinois!

The New Illinois Declaration of Independence states: …there has been a long train of abuses and acts to seize and hold the People’s power without legal authority. When such efforts clearly demonstrate a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Protections for their future security.

This IS happening in Illinois!

The People of Illinois are suffering under a tyrannical state government Tyranny sounds like an extreme word, but the Founding Fathers used it often. A tyrannical government is unfair, unjust, and exercises power without legal restraint. Do we have evidence that Illinois is a tyranny?

Economist and scholar Walter Williams stated the following: Keep in mind that one does not have to be in favor of death camps or wars of conquest to be a tyrant. The only requirement is that one must believe in the primacy of the state over individual rights.

The first mark of tyranny is oppressive or unjust use of power.

• Illinois infringes on our right to Government of the People, by the People, and for the People. Illinois politicians give insiders, public sector unions, and Chicago/Cook County

disproportionate power. The rights of rural, small town and suburban residents are trampled upon.

• In 1763, American patriot James Otis proclaimed that Taxation without representation is tyranny. Illinois residents outside of Cook County have taxation without representation.

Second, a tyranny is unrestrained by the Law or the Constitution.

• Illinois violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article VI, Clause 2) by becoming a sanctuary state. Broke Illinois now spends $3.85 billion per year on services for people who are breaking the law to be here.
• Illinois violates its own State Constitution, which requires legislative districts to be compact. But Illinois districts are shaped like snakes, earmuffs, and lightning bolts. As stated in Grievances 3 and 8, district maps are a tool to steal representative government from We the People and increase the power of the Cook County political machine. By consistently degrading the influence of voters outside of Cook County, Illinois violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Third, a tyranny does not derive its just powers from the consent of the governed.

• Since the people outside of Cook County lack representation, it is impossible for Illinois government to have their consent.
• Power belonging to the elected state legislature has been given to unelected bureaucrats. This practice destroys a republican form of government. For instance, the State Board of Education, not the state legislature, decided that Critical Race Theory would be taught in the schools, pre-K through grade 12. This standard was approved by a committee of only 12 legislators, despite an outcry from the People.

Fourth, a tyranny is often led by incompetent leaders

• Despite outrageously high taxes, Illinois’ leaders have amassed enormous debt, and We the People are on the hook for it.
• Illinois politicians created a dysfunctional unemployment system. One million people who were out of work in 2020 were left in jeopardy when they couldn’t get their funds.
• Illinois’ leaders have failed in their first responsibility, to represent the citizens.

Fifth, a tyranny infringes on the Rights of the People

• Illinois has infringed on the conscience rights of healthcare workers and other employees.
• The 2nd Amendment is important for citizens to protect themselves against tyranny, but Illinois infringes on the People’s 2nd Amendment rights every day.

Whereas the State of Illinois has violated both the U.S. and the Illinois Constitutions, governed incompetently, infringed on our rights, and deprived the People of representative government;

We the People of New Illinois declare that the STATE OF ILLINOIS IS A FAILED STATE and has lost its legitimacy. Illinois has broken the compact that bound us together, because it has not fulfilled its side of the bargain.

This Concludes These Proceedings