CITY OF CHICAGO,
Petitioner,
v.
JESUS MORALES, ET AL.,
Respondents.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS
BRIEF OF WASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION, U.S. REPRESENTATIVES HENRY HYDE
AND LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, ALLIED EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, NORTHWEST NEIGHBORHOOD FEDERATION,
AND WEST AVALON CIVIC GROUP, INC. AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER
DANIEL J. POPEO
RICHARD A. SAMP
(Counsel of Record)
WASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION
2009 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 588-0302
Counsel for Amici Curiae
Date: June 19, 1998
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QUESTION PRESENTED
Amici curiae address the following question only:
Whether, despite legislative findings about the de-leterious effects of loitering by
criminal street gangs, an ordinance that requires a group of loiterers containing criminal
street gang members to obey a police order to move on violates substantive due process
guarantees.
In the Supreme Court of the United States
October Term, 1997
No. 97-1121
CITY OF CHICAGO,
Petitioner,
v.
JESUS MORALES, ET AL.,
Respondents.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS
BRIEF OF WASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION, U.S. REPRESENTATIVES HENRY HYDE
AND LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, ALLIED EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, NORTHWEST NEIGHBORHOOD FEDERATION,
AND WEST AVALON CIVIC GROUP, INC. AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER
INTERESTS OF THE AMICI CURIAE
The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) is a
non-profit public interest law and policy center with supporters in all 50 states. While
WLF engages in litigation in a wide variety of areas, WLF devotes a substantial portion of
its resources to criminal justice reform and crime prevention efforts. To that end, WLF
has appeared before this Court as well as other federal and state courts to support
government efforts to ensure that law-abiding citizens can feel safe while walking down
neighborhood streets. See, e.g., People ex rel. Gallo v. Acuna, 14 Cal. 4th 1090, cert.
denied, 117 S. Ct. 2513 (1997); Northern Virginia Chapter, American Civil Liberties
Union v. City of Alexandria, 747 F. Supp. 324 (E.D. Va. 1990). WLF also filed briefs
in this case in support of Petitioner in both the Supreme Court of Illinois and the
Appellate Court of Illinois.1
Reps. Henry J. Hyde and Luis V. Gutierrez are
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 6th and 4th
Districts, respectively. Rep. Hyde is Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Reps.
Hyde and Gutierrez support the City of Chicago's efforts to control escalating
gang-related problems through passage of its gang loitering ordinance.
The Allied Educational Foundation (AEF) is a
non-profit charitable and educational foundation based in Englewood, New Jersey. Founded
in 1964, AEF is dedicated to promoting education in diverse areas of study, such as law
and public policy, and has appeared as amicus curiae in this Court on a number of
occasions.
The Northwest Neighborhood Federation (NNF) is a
coalition of community groups located on Chicago's northwest side. The NNF coalition
includes the following groups: Belmont-Irving Organization; Kelvyn-Wel Community
Organization; Avondale Community Team; Cragin Community Association; Belmont Austin
Concerned Neighbors; West Cragin Neighbors; Hanson-Riis Park Neighborhood Association; and
North Avondale Organization. The NNF has received petitions from over 10,000 residents of
the northwest side of Chicago who are in favor of taking action to curb criminal street
gang activity in their neighborhoods.
The West Avalon Civic Group is a non-profit
community association founded in 1972. It is 95 % comprised of senior citizens residing in
an area of Chicago bounded by 79th Street, 87th Street, Cottage Grove Avenue, and Dobson
Avenue.
Amici's constituents and/or members
include many individuals who are adversely affected by the gang loitering activities
giving rise to the challenged ordinance. Amici believe that while the ordinance was
being enforced, it significantly improved the quality of life for large numbers of Chicago
residents, by demonstrating to them that the City was unwilling to cede control of public
streets to criminal gangs.
While amici believe that the Ordinance is
sufficiently clear in defining proscribed conduct to withstand a void--for-vagueness
challenge, amici do not address that issue. Rather, this brief focuses on the
substantive due process issue; amici believe that nothing in the Ordinance so
offends liberty interests deeply rooted in our nation's history as to permit a finding
that the ordinance violates substantive due process rights.
Amici submit this brief in support of
Petitioner with the written consent of all parties. The written consents are on file with
the Clerk of the Court.
1 Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 37.6, amici state
that no counsel for a party authored this brief, in whole or in part; and that no person
or entity, other than amici and their counsel, contributed monetarily to the
preparation and submission of this brief. |
