Filling in for Edwin Eisendrath, Jill Wine-Banks is joined by Kwame Raoul, attorney general of Illinois.

Legal Challenges to Tariffs
- Attorney General Raoul discusses a lawsuit against the administration's decision to increase tariffs on more than 80 countries.
- He notes that the action is intended to provide universal relief as tariffs affect imports for the entire country rather than individual states.
- Raoul emphasizes that successful previous legal challenges have already occurred regarding these types of tariff implementations.

Gun Control and Supreme Court Cases
- The discussion covers upcoming Supreme Court cases involving assault weapon bans in Connecticut and Illinois.
- Raoul clarifies that Illinois has successfully defended its statewide assault weapons ban in the 7th Circuit but has not yet been granted cert by the Supreme Court.
- He expresses a strong belief that weapons of war should not be permitted in public streets.

The Equal Rights Amendment Struggle
- Wine-Banks and Raoul discuss the ongoing efforts to secure official recognition of the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment.
- Raoul mentions his office’s past litigation through the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding this issue.
- They discuss potential paths forward, including congressional action to clarify or remove timeline restrictions on ratification.

HUD Funding for Permanent Housing
- Illinois is involved in a multi-state effort to sue the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over attempts to cap funding for permanent housing projects aimed at addressing homelessness.
- On August 7, a judge in Rhode Island granted summary judgment for a multi-state coalition, finding the HUD notice was arbitrary and capricious.
- Raoul argues that housing stability is an essential first step toward resolving various other social challenges for at-risk populations.

Protecting Election Integrity and Authority
- The conversation shifts to concerns about Department of Justice monitors being deployed nationwide during elections.
- Raoul highlights that Illinois has already challenged the authority to deploy National Guard members and had success when the Supreme Court blocked such deployments in Texas and Illinois.
- He also discusses blocking efforts by the Department of Justice to obtain unredacted voter rolls from individual states, asserting state authority over election administration per the Constitution.

Catch “It’s the Democracy, Stupid” Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/edwin).   

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