GUN LAWSUIT; UNION GROWTH: Capitol News Daily | Saturday, Sept. 10

View this email in your browser CAPITOL NEWS DAILY The top stories of the day in state government coverage from Capitol News Illinois. DONATE TO CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS Union growth is up in Illinois and support for unions is up nationwide. That's as Illinoisans prepare to vote in November on a measure that would enshrine a right to unionize in the state's constitution. Peter Hancock takes a look at the state of unions in Illinois and breaks down the issue that will appear on the ballot in a story linked below. Hancock also has more on a handful of lawsuits filed by a gun rights group in several states looking to void local and state gun regulations. One of the lawsuits seeks to void an assault weapon and high-capacity magazine ban in Highland Park, where a shooter killed seven during an Independence Day parade this year. That story is below as well. We are also relinking a series of investigative reports by CNI reporter Beth Hundsdorfer and Molly Parker of Lee Enterprises in partnership with ProPublica. The reporting looked into a culture of cruelty at the state-run Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna. Our investigation unveiled that at least 26 employees over the past decade have been arrested on felony charges in relation to their work at the facility, and internal investigations have cited dozens of other employees for neglecting, exploiting or humiliating residents, lying to investigators, or failing to report allegations of mistreatment in a timely manner. In some cases, investigations have languished for years as accused employees have continued to receive their full pay while on administrative leave. Our first stories are linked below for those who've missed them, and we've also linked a reaction story with comments from the governor and lawmakers.   Gun rights group sues Highland Park A gun rights group is challenging the city of Highland Park's ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like the ones used in a mass shooting there on July 4. The National Association for Gun Rights, based in Loveland, Colorado, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal district court in Chicago at the same time it filed lawsuits challenging a similar ordinance in Naperville as well as state laws in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Hawaii. The cases were filed in district courts that are part of five different federal appellate circuits. Illinois is part of the 7th Circuit. In a statement Thursday, the group said it is pushing for a national precedent to end all similar bans across the country. "Our mission has always been to expand pro-gun precedents and defend gun owners," Hannah Hill, research and policy director for the National Foundation for Gun Rights, the association's legal defense fund, said in the statement. "The brilliant decision from (U.S. Supreme Court) Justice (Clarence) Thomas this summer has provided us with the ammo to free millions of law-abiding Americans who are being unjustly denied their gun rights." Peter Hancock covered the story. Ahead of amendment vote, union membership grows in Illinois As voters in Illinois prepare to decide on a state constitutional amendment that would guarantee workers the right to organize, a new study shows union membership in the state grew last year for the first time in four years. The study also showed, however, that the overall percentage of the state's workforce that was in a union declined from one year ago. The analysis by the pro-union Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign showed that union membership statewide grew a little more than 2 percent, to 752,063, over the previous year. That was still below the 2017 level of 828,066. And while it might be too early to tell whether that's a temporary blip or the beginning of a longer-term trend, UIUC's Robert Bruno, a coauthor of the report, said there are other signs of a rebound in the labor movement. The proposed amendment, which will be on ballots in the Nov. 8 General Election, would add a new section to the state constitution's bill of rights. The first sentence would establish a "fundamental right" of employees "to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work." Peter Hancock has the story. A disabled young patient was sent to get treatment. He was abused instead. And he wasn't the last. While a patient at the Choate Mental Health and developmental center was still restrained, the man accused of beating him sent a text message to a colleague. The text, later obtained by police, read, "we just got done strappin Blaine in… I f***** his world up this morning." "U guys always do lol…," she responded. Read more from our monthslong investigation of the state-run facility. Culture of cruelty persists despite decades of warnings   Over a year ago, the security chief at Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois sent an email to the head of the state agency that operates the facility, warning her of dangerous conditions inside. Parker and Hundsdorfer detail the timeline of the state's response here. Pritzker calls for changes after 'awful' reports of abuse at developmental center Gov. JB Pritzker took questions about abuse at the facility earlier this week. He said the state isn't planning to close Choate, but he didn't rule it out if safety issues aren't addressed. "The question is, can we prevent that in the future? And if not, then obviously that's not a facility that should remain open," the governor said in response to a reporter's questions at an unrelated event in downstate Decatur. Hundsdorfer and Parker have the follow-up here. CAPITOL RECAP: Highland Park gun lawsuit; EV incentives Each week, we update Capitol Recap with shortened versions of the week's stories. Click here to read Capitol Recap. Click Here to Support Capitol News Illinois Copyright © 2022 - Capitolnewsillinois.com, All rights reserved. Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. unsubscribe from this list

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