A federal judge has allowed the U.S. Department of Justice to join a lawsuit that seeks to halt and dismantle the City of Evanston’s historic reparations program
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, which awards grants to Black residents whose ancestors lived in Evanston during decades of housing discrimination.Judge John F. Kness of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the Justice Department’s motion to intervene in a federal court hearing Oct. 15, according to court records.
Intervening occurs when a third party enters into an existing civil case and was not “named as an original party but has a personal stake in the outcome,” according to Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute website.
As of Thursday, Kness had not yet published a written opinion on his decision. The Department of Justice had announced its intention to join the suit in June, but the judge’s action last week will allow it to proceed.
When Evanston launched the nation’s first municipal reparations program in 2021, it aimed to compensate Black residents for indelible housing discrimination and redlining practices that primarily occurred between 1919 and 1969.
The program awards $25,000 grant payments for housing-related financial assistance to Black residents and direct descendants of Black residents who lived in the city during that time period. These awards were expanded from housing-related payments, such as paying down a mortgage, to direct cash payments, to pay for rent, for example, in 2023.
The federal “complaint in intervention,” filed Oct. 16, joins the Flinn v. City of Evanston lawsuit previously filed by conservative activist group Judicial Watch in May 2024 in arguing that the reparations program’s use of race as an eligibility requirement allegedly violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment and the U.S. Fair Housing Act.
In other words, the suit claims that the reparations program illegally discriminates on the basis of race — in this case, discriminating against people who are not Black.
“Persons of other races,” the complaint states, “including ones who were victims of unlawful racial discrimination by the City between 1919 and 1969, are not eligible for any payments or financial assistance…neither are their descendants.”
Race-based government actions may be justified under the U.S. Constitution when they provide specific remedies to past discrimination, the complaint continues. These remedies must also “identify the specific instance of past discrimination” that it seeks to rectify.
“The resolutions do not attempt to tie any remedial programs to specific instances or identifiable victims of past discrimination and instead focus on race alone.”
The six plaintiffs represented in the Judicial Watch suit all identify as non-Black residents and direct descendants of Evanston residents who lived in the city during the same eligibility period.
Providing unrestricted cash payments and housing-related assistance to current or former Black residents and their descendants, and “not offering or distributing those benefits to other Evanston residents or descendants,” due to race, has “caused harm to such persons,” the federal government’s motion states.
The Justice Department also argues the program violates the Fair Housing Act because it restricts housing-related financial assistance based upon race or color.
Judge Kness rejected Evanston’s effort to dismiss the case back in March, allowing formal court proceedings to continue.
The City of Evanston declined a Pioneer Press request for comment on Kness’ ruling to allow the Justice Department to intervene, but said that it will “continue to vehemently defend any lawsuit brought against our City’s reparations program.”
N’nanba, formerly known as Robin Rue Simmons, who spearheaded the reparations initiative when she was an Evanston 5th Ward alderman in 2021, and is currently chair of the Evanston Reparations Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Judicial Watch President Tom Sutton told Pioneer Press the ruling marks a “significant and positive development” in the case.
“For all the other noise about reparations, it’s the only active reparations program in the country…The City of Evanston should stop wasting tax dollars, not only on the racist payments, but on defending the indefensible.”
Plaintiffs, along with the Justice Department, are seeking to formally halt the initiative and stop future payments from being administered, in addition to awarding monetary damages to “each person aggrieved,” according to the motion to intervene.
The suit also requests an assessment of potential future civil penalties against the city, per the motion.
Evanston had not yet filed a response as of Thursday, Oct. 22, per district court records. The next scheduled telephone status hearing for the case is set for Oct. 29.