Julia Haslanger

Today's print Chicago Sun-Times is wrapped with a 20-page special section on the death of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Here's where to look for the paper. www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/v...

March 2026 Cook County Judicial Election Guide | Injustice Watch Injustice Watch's guide to the March 2026 Cook County judicial primary elections.

📣 Our judicial election guide for the March 2026 primary is here! We spent months researching each candidate’s background, legal experience, political connections, conduct, and more — all so you can make informed decisions about who should be a Cook County judge. buff.ly/O4cRnL6

Image text: IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION COALITION FOR SPIRITUAL AND ) PUBLIC LEADERSHIP; FR. LARRY ) DOWLING; SR. JEREMEY MIDURA; FR. ) DENNIS BERRY; FR. DAN HARTNETT; and ) MICHAEL N. OKIŃCZYC-CRUZ ) ) Plaintiffs, ) Case No. 25 C 14168 ) v. ) ) Judge Robert W. Gettleman KRISTI NOEM; TODD LYONS; MARCOS ) CHARLES; RUSSELL HOLT; RODNEY S. ) SCOTT; GREGORY BOVINO; PAMELA ) BONDI; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND ) SECURITY; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE; ) DONALD J. TRUMP ) ) Defendants. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER Plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction (Doc. 8) against defendants, requesting access to minister to migrants and detainees in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) facility in Broadview, Illinois (“Broadview”). Plaintiffs allege that defendants’ denial of their access to Broadview violates plaintiffs’ rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (“RFRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb, et seq., and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc, et seq. For the reasons below, the court grants plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction (Doc. 8) in part. A. Standing Because defendants raise the issue, the court briefly addresses standing. Plaintiffs’ theory of standing in relation to its RFRA claim is straightforward. Plaintiffs are asserting their own religious rights and the religious rights of detainees and migrants at Broadview. Defendants do not dispute that plaintiffs have standing to assert their own rights. Instead, defendants argue that “plaintiffs lack standing to assert the rights of the detainees.” Because the preliminary injunction here is based on plaintiffs’ RFRA claims asserted on their own behalf, the court need not reach the third-party standing issues

Partial Image text: B. Preliminary injunction To obtain a preliminary injunction, the plaintiff “must establish that he is likely to succeed on the merits, that he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, that the balance of equities tips in his favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest.” Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 20 (2008). Of these four factors, “[t]he two most important considerations are likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm.” Bevis v. City of Naperville, Illinois, 85 F.4th 1175, 1188 (7th Cir. 2023). In establishing a likelihood of success on the merits, the plaintiff “need not demonstrate likelihood of success by a preponderance of the evidence,” but must “nevertheless make a ‘strong’ showing that reveals how it proposes to prove its case.” Id. In addition, a plaintiff seeking a preliminary injunction must show more than “a mere possibility of irreparable harm.” Id. 1. Likelihood of success on the merits The court finds that plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their RFRA claim. Under RFRA, the “Government shall not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb- 1(a). The statute provides a single exception that applies if the government demonstrates that the application of the burden to the person: “(1) is in is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1(b); see also Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418, 430 (2006) (explaining that RFRA adopted a “strict scrutiny test”). The court finds that the government has substantially burdened plaintiffs’ exercise of religion.

Partial image text: Plaintiffs argue that prayer and ministry to the migrants and detainees at Broadview is an important religious practice. Defendants concede that “ministering to vulnerable Catholic immigrants is part of [plaintiffs’] religious exercise,” but argue that doing so at Broadview “is itself not essential to the practice.”1 RFRA requires a court to analyze if a government practice substantially burdens a person’s exercise of religion, not whether the religious practice burdened is “essential.” West v. Radtke, 48 F.4th 836, 845 (7th Cir. 2022) (holding that the assessment of whether a burden is substantial does not focus on “the centrality of the religious practice in question”). The Seventh Circuit has “identified three ways plaintiffs can prove that a law or regulation substantially burdens their religious practice.” Soc’y of Divine Word v. United States Citizenship & Immigr. Servs., 129 F.4th 437, 450 (7th Cir. 2025). Plaintiff can show that the law or regulation, “(1) compelled them to perform acts undeniably at odds with fundamental tenets of their religious beliefs, (2) put substantial pressure on them to modify their behavior and to violate their beliefs, or (3) bears direct, primary, and fundamental responsibility for rendering a religious exercise effectively impracticable.” Id. (cleaned up). Here, defendants’ denial of plaintiffs’ access to Broadview satisfies at least the third category. Defendants’ bar on plaintiffs’ visitation to Broadview is fundamentally responsible for rendering plaintiffs’ religious practice of providing ministry to detainees and migrants effectively impracticable. Because plaintiffs have shown that defendants have substantially burdened their exercise of religion, the burden shifts to defendants to show that the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest, and that it is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

Partial image text: 3. Balance of Equities and Public Interest The court agrees with plaintiffs that the balance of equities tips in plaintiffs’ favor. The govt makes no argument about the balance of equities. As plaintiffs note, Broadview allowed plaintiffs’ religious visitation to Broadview for years before reversing course relatively recently. With reasonable notice and communication, addressing legitimate security and safety concerns, allowing plaintiffs to provide pastoral care to migrants and detainees does not pose any undue hardship on the govt. The court also agrees with plaintiffs that the injunction is in public interest. Allowing plaintiffs to provide pastoral care to migrants and detainees will improve the condition of those detained at Broadview. Again, the govt makes no argument about public interest. Consequently, the court finds that the balance of equities tips in plaintiffs’ favor, and that an injunction is in the public interest. *** Having determined that plaintiffs have satisfied the requirements to obtain a preliminary injunction, and taking into consideration the parties’ arguments and representations in today’s hearing, the court grants plaintiffs’ motion in part and orders the following: 1. Defendants are directed to allow plaintiffs to access the Broadview facility on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026, to offer ashes and Communion for those who desire it. The parties are directed to meet and confer to establish an appropriate protocol for the purposes of safety and security with regard to the Ash Wednesday services. 3. Based on the parties’ representations during today’s proceedings, the court directs them to meet and confer with regard to plaintiffs’ religious ministry at the Broadview facility after Ash Wednesday, including: (1) personal interactions between plaintiffs and detainees; and (2) the ability of plaintiffs to engage in prayer outside of the Broadview facility and in view of the detainees.

New: District Judge Robert Gettleman issued an order yesterday mandating clergy be allowed inside the Broadview, IL ICE facility on Feb. 18 to offer those inside ashes and communion for Ash Wednesday.

Gettleman found the govt has "substantially burdened plaintiffs’ exercise of religion."

unraveled is *two* people, doing work that much bigger newsrooms aren't

The two children who returned to MN today say they saw one of their Valley View schoolmates at a detention center in TX. This is a child whose family was last in contact with the school on January 9. No one has known where they were until now.

What it's like to see ICE tear gas kids Attendees at a Portland, OR protest describe a vicious, unprovoked and sudden attack

New — I spoke to eight people who were present at the ICE protest on Saturday in Portland, Oregon when federal agents deployed tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowd of families, children, elderly and disabled people, and their pets.

These are their stories:

He was just standing there observing/filming. ICE agent initiates physical contact, pushing him toward side walk.
(reposted to clarify description)

Hm Gmail filters seem suddenly completely busted

Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 24, 2026

Anti-ICE protesters fill the streets of downtown Minneapolis during an "ICE Out" rally on Jan. 23.

📷️ Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Continuing coverage: bit.ly/3ZsrBxQ

Reminiscent of how they removed mention of trans people at the Stonewall National Monument

Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park Following last year’s review, every sign has been removed from the President’s House site.

Look at this: @inquirer.com has digitally preserved the interpretative signage removed by NPS, and used annotations to explain what specifically was flagged before removal. This keeps the content publicly accessible (for now) while doing newsworthy reporting
www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

The sun rises over Chicago as temperatures plummet, with wind chills around -30 degrees, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

If you’re worried your polling place might be disrupted, one constructive step you can take is volunteering as a poll worker. It’s a hands-on way to help ensure the election runs smoothly—and it gives you direct access to the people who can explain what security measures are in place.

Please don't brag about how your community would *theoretically* handle ICE/CBP better than Minneapolis. I know that you think it is funny, boasting about how your part of the world is so tough that you'd send ICE/CBP packing. Just wait to see how you will be judged.

At this point, it’s definitely the pope.

Surface weather map

Temperatures will be cold for today's #Bears game in Chicago, but the game will end before the Arctic cold front passes later tonight. Even colder air arrives behind the front along with gusty winds.

In just the past three hours — just in my neighborhood — there's been a legal observer pepper sprayed in the face and another observer stopped by an ICE agent who then printed out a map of their home address & threatened arrest.

So yeah that federal judge's order isn't doing shit to slow them down.

An ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good. Judge Sara Ellis all but told us today would happen. "[A]gents have used excessive force … without justification, often without warning, and even at those who had begun to comply with agents’ orders," Ellis wrote on Nov. 20.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, in her November 20 opinion in a case over the federal government’s treatment of protesters and press in Illinois, warned us — warned America — that Wednesday was coming.

My overnight report at Law Dork:

For those keeping score, Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team, & Washington Post's Visual Forensic team have all published analysis showing the ICE shooter wasn't in the path of Renee Nicole Good’s vehicle when he shot her, contradicting statements by the President & his cronies

Before being taken to an ICE processing center, the van made multiple stops. The first was the parking lot of a Checkers restaurant where agents spotted Latino landscapers; they grabbed three of them and threw them in the truck with Nick and the other two men. Then the agents drove behind the restaurant where Nick says they made sure there were no cameras, took the men out of the van, added constraints around their waists and ankles in addition to their wrists, and piled them back in. With one empty seat left in the van, they stopped at a local Hispanic market to find someone to fill it, waiting for a few minutes near one man before detaining him. Nick says he and the men inside tried to silently warn him, but it was no use: the windows were too tinted for him to see their faces. Soon he’d be right there with them, headed for the ICE processing office in Chantilly, Virginia. “It was totally just based on our physical appearance,” Nick said of how agents decided who to pick up—including him. At a stoplight en route to the office, the agents spotted men selling coconut water on the street. Nick recalls the driver saying to the other agent, “Hey, you want to take two more?” and the agent in the passenger seat replying, “No, we don't have space, and also I'm tired. Maybe tomorrow.”

This part has really stuck with me:

www.thehandbasket.co/p/kavanaugh-...

‘It’s time’: Trump Store in Bucks County closing due to declining sales Mike Domanico's store thrived during the Biden administration, but Trump's return to the White House has been bad for business.

I spoke to the owner of a Trump Store in the Philly suburbs who is closing up shop due to declining sales. www.inquirer.com/business/tru...

Finnish children learn media literacy at 3 years old. It's protection against Russian propaganda Finland has been fighting fake news by teaching media literacy to children as young as 3. The Nordic nation includes this in its national curriculum to help citizens recognize disinformation, especial...

as a teacher who did this with HS Seniors in Dallas, I learned 2 things: 1, this needs to be a unit every single year, K-12, across disciiplines, because it's that difficult to teach well and, 2, kids actually like spotting fakes and really get into this if you give them the skills to do so

I moved around a lot in my 20s, and have traveled to a lot of professional conferences.

tenpages.github.io/us-level/us....

Flu surges in 45 states as doctor visits reach highest level in nearly 30 years About 5,000 people have died of the flu so far this season, including 9 children, as the Trump administration pulls back on advice to get kids vaccinated.

The flu surge in the last week of the year was really something else (see the line chart in the story).

"About 5,000 people have died of the flu so far this season, including 9 children, as the Trump administration pulls back on advice to get kids vaccinated." www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

three bylines, six months late, almost zero new information we hadn't reported months ago. lowercased our name and mentioned deep in the story. no link to us. said they couldnt find the govt privacy document (we did). good job wall street journal

I can help later today (via @justinmyers.net's Switch since mine is broken).

Enough is enough. I just saw this clanker run a train crossing and narrowly avoid a collision with a Metra train. Who knows what would’ve happened.

ICE Threw Thousands of Kids in Detention, Many For Longer Than Court-Prescribed Limit Former immigration staffers argue ICE is choosing to detain families for prolonged periods to speed deportations and compel them to leave.

ICYMI over holidays: 3,800 children, including infants, were held in immigrant detention in 2025. Families report children are so distressed they are hitting themselves in the face and soiling themselves, despite being potty-trained.

www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/17/c...

Sorry for limited skeets; frozen fingers!

Large Chicago crowd has hit the streets in protest of the U.S. bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of President Maduro.