Chicago’s lawsuit seeking fencing, heavy-duty locks and security cameras stalled because the owner could not be reached.

More than a year ago, the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Englewood home where eight people were shot this week, asking that he install fencing, heavy-duty locks and security cameras to make the property safer.

But the lawsuit stalled because officials could not reach the owner, who did not live in the home in the 6200 block of South Morgan Street. When gunfire filled the two-story house early Tuesday, killing four, the city had made no progress on any of the security measures.

Two days later, the city finally reached the owner, Enrique Badillo Sr., according to city Law Department spokeswoman Kristen Cabanban.

She couldn’t say why the city took over a year to serve Badillo with the lawsuit. Public records show he owns several properties in Chicago and resides in Logan Square.

The court will now have more jurisdiction over compliance with safety improvements, Cabanban said. City officials have seen no evidence that any of the measures have been taken by the owner, she said. A hearing is set for July 1.

The city filed the “public nuisance” suit in March of 2020, months after a man was shot during a large party inside the home, according to the lawsuit.

Police found the man bleeding in the kitchen from several gunshot wounds on Nov. 1, 2019, the suit states. He was taken to a hospital in serious condition. At least 50 people were in the home at the time, the suit claims, and there was drinking and a dice game.

It’s unclear if any of the victims from Tuesday’s mass shooting were living in the home back then. One of those shot and badly wounded was a barber who lived there and cut hair at the house.

Attempts to reach the property owner were unsuccessful Thursday.

Police have released few details about Tuesday’s shooting, and it’s unclear whether any of the measures sought by the city could have prevented it. Police have not said whether there’s any video of the attack, or how the gunman got into the house.

The city had filed the lawsuit to “take action to abate criminal activity” at the home, a two-story wood-frame house with a gray stone front. The lawsuit listed a series of actions the city could take to make the home safer: Evicting residents and ordering the owner to install security measures, including fencing, gate locks, outdoor lighting, security cameras and hiring a security guard.

The home was last inspected in January 2020, though the inspector was unable to enter the home, according to the suit. The inspector listed several code violations: broken windows, an unsafe staircase and porch, and construction work performed without a permit.

The city sought to fine the owner $10,000, plus $1,000 per day for each violation since the inspection.

Ald. Stephanie Coleman, whose 16th Ward includes the home on Morgan Street, did not respond to a request for comment.

Provided photos

The attack was one of three mass shootings in Chicago in little over a week.

Relatives said one of the victims, 34-year-old Blake Lee, lived in the home and did odd jobs in the neighborhood. He died in the attack. Another resident of the home, James Tolbert, ran a barbershop from the house. He was seriously wounded.

“That man is a barber, he cuts hair from here, this is his business and this is his home,” Robyn Eddmonds said during a Wednesday vigil for the victims. “It was his home that he opened up to [others] but it also was his business. He wasn’t a gangbanger… He didn’t do any of that.”

Also living in the home was Tolbert’s girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter. The girlfriend remained in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head. The girl was not shot but was taken to a hospital for observation.

The victims were gathered in the home for the 28th birthday of Ratanya Aryiel Rogers, who was shot and killed in the attack. Police said a gunman broke into the home before 5:40 a.m. and started shooting. All but one of the victims was shot in the head, police said.

The others who died were Denice Mathis, 32, a mother of four boys, and Shermetria Williams, 19, the mother of a 2-year-old girl.

Contributing: Madeline Kenney

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A 13-year-old boy was shot Thursday in West Pullman on the Far South Side.

He was riding his bicycle about 3:30 p.m. in the 12200 block of South Stewart Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in the leg, Chicago police said.

The teen was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in serious condition but was stabilized at the hospital, police and fire officials said.

Area Two detectives are investigating.

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The alleged getaway driver in a deadly shooting on the Eisenhower Expressway has been charged with murder.

Dezhawn Seargent had been driving a borrowed SUV alongside a car a rival gang member was traveling in when two gunman inside Seargent’s SUV opened fire on the morning of Aug. 15, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said Thursday.

The rival gang member was not injured.

Instead, the gunmen struck 19-year-old Lakasia Gregory in the head and leg on the Interstate 290 near Central Avenue, DeBoni said. Gregory was also in the vehicle that was driven by the girlfriend of the man the uncharged gunmen were targeting. That woman was also struck in the arm but survived, DeBoni said.

Seargent, 26, had borrowed the SUV used in the shooting hours earlier and drove the gunmen to the block where the victims were hanging out to conduct surveillance, DeBoni said.

When Gregory and the others got into their car and drove away, Seargent followed them onto the expressway and then sped up alongside them, DeBoni said.

ShotSpotter gunshot detectors recorded a barrage of gunfire from two different guns. Sixteen shell casings were collected and the victims’ car was struck 10 times, DeBoni said.

After the shooting, Seargent dropped the SUV back to the individual he borrowed it from, DeBoni said.

That woman later found a shell casing on her driveway near the front door of her SUV. The shell casing, later recovered by Illinois State Police investigators, matched the caliber and make of the casings found at the crime scene, DeBoni said.

Seargent was identified through surveillance videos and phone records, which showed he and one of the gunmen had communicated before and after the shooting, DeBoni said. Geo-tracking features on Seargent’s cellphone phone also allegedly matched the movements of the SUV before the murder.

Seargent grew up in the west suburbs, where he still has family, and graduated from Lyons Township High School, an assistant public defender said. Seargent was laid off during the pandemic and is currently unemployed, the defense attorney added.

Judge Mary Marubio ordered Seargent held without bail.

He is expected back in court July 8.

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The possibility of the Bears leaving Soldier Field for a new stadium in Arlington Heights became significantly more realistic once they put in a bid to buy the Arlington International Racecourse property.

The potential relocation had been little more than speculation until team president Ted Phillips announced the bid Thursday. Phillips couched it as the Bears exploring “every possible option” and allows them to “further evaluate the property and its potential” if their bid is accepted, and it’s obvious that means relocating is legitimately under consideration.

That being said, the Bears have made numerous relocation ploys over the years to gain leverage over the City of Chicago in negotiations over Soldier Field. Arlington Heights was a possibility in the 1970s, when Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley threatened to prevent the team from using Chicago in its name and mused about the lack of interest there would be in “the Arlington Heights Bears.”

Chairman George McCaskey, whose family has owned the team since its inception in 1920, declined comment through a spokesman.

Overall, the Bears want more control over their home stadium, which isn’t actually theirs. Because the Chicago Park District owns Soldier Field, the team is limited in what it can do as far as expanding the capacity beyond its current 62,000, selling sponsorships of certain areas of the stadium and building things like a year-round museum and gift shop.

There’d be nothing holding them back in Arlington Heights, where mayor Thomas Hayes has been openly campaigning to lure them. He called a potential Bears move a “best-case scenario” for his village Thursday.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity, but it’s certainly not a done deal,” Hayes said. “There’s a long way to go.”

Hayes said he had met with fewer than 10 potential bidders for the site. Churchill Downs, Inc. owns the property and said it plans to give an update on the sale “in the coming weeks.” A spokesperson declined comment on the Bears’ bid.

On the other end of this tug-of-war, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot sharpened her tone from saying last month she wanted to help the Bears maximize what they’re getting out of Soldier Field and came out with a blazing statement Thursday saying the Bears “are locked into a lease,” and pointing out that “many organizations are doubling down on their commitment to Chicago,” while the Bears flirt with the suburbs.

“This is clearly a negotiation tactic that the Bears have used before,” Lightfoot said. “As a season-ticket holder and longtime Bears fan, I am committed to keeping the ‘Chicago’ name in our football team.”

Then she took the cruelest swipe of all.

“Like most Bears fans, we want the organization to focus on putting a winning team on the field, beating the Packers finally and being relevant past October,” she said. “Everything else is noise.”

That noise probably won’t quiet anytime soon.

The racetrack property covers 326 acres about six miles north of the Northwest Tollway. That’s far more space than they have at Soldier Field, it’s an advantageous location based on internal research that shows the majority of their fan base is in the north and northwest suburbs and it’s about half the trek from Halas Hall in Lake Forest.

The Arlington Heights property would be exclusively for a stadium. The team poured more than $100 million into renovating Halas Hall in 2019 and will hold training camp there for the foreseeable future.

The Bears have played at Soldier Field since 1971 and have a lease running through 2033. The organization doesn’t consider that lease to be a barrier, a source said, because it could negotiate a buyout and construction on a new facility would take years anyway.

Recently built NFL stadiums have been extravagant in design and enormous in price. The newly opened stadiums in Los Angeles and Las Vegas cost $5 billion-$6 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively. The others in the last seven years are for the Falcons ($1.6 billion), Vikings ($1.1 billion) and 49ers ($1.3 billion).

In terms of price and aesthetics, the Bears are likely to give U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis a long look as they imagine their new home. It has a 73,000-person capacity, a glass roof and glass on much of the stadium walls to allow as much daylight as possible.

That stadium opened in 2016 and has already hosted a Super Bowl, a Final Four and various other major concerts and events. Building that kind of venue would give the Bears similar opportunities that simply wouldn’t work at Soldier Field.

Staff writer Mitchell Armentrout contributed to this story.

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The developer of Lincoln Yards is opening part of the North Side property this summer for public activities such as a basketball camp, outdoor movies programmed by Chicago’s Davis Theater and artistic performances.

Sterling Bay is calling the effort Meanwhile at Lincoln Yards. It will open July 15 at Ada Street and Concord Place but some activities have already started.

It’s a way to introduce the public to the former brownfield. The programs will occur on part of 53 acres Sterling Bay intends to transform into a mixed-use development. The developer plans an office building for life sciences firms in the project’s first phase.

Noting that environmental work has been completed, Sterling Bay CEO Andy Gloor said Meanwhile at Lincoln Yards will engage “local businesses and creative organizations to see what resonates with and is most impactful to the community.”

A fee will apply to some programs and food and merchandise will be sold, but Sterling Bay said it won’t collect any money. All revenue will support small businesses and nonprofits, the company said.

For example, tickets to the outdoor “movies on the lawn” by the Davis will be $10 each. The showings pick up on last year’s drive-in at Lincoln Yards when the pandemic caused strict limits on public interaction. Films this year will include “Field of Dreams” and “The Wizard of Oz.” The Davis has posted a schedule at davistheater.com/drivein/.

Three new basketball courts will host a youth camp run by Hoopademix, which uses sports programs to combat racism. The programs run weekdays through Aug. 27.

The activities are adjacent to Fleet Fields, soccer fields Sterling Bay opened for free or league play.

The company said Urban Gateways is planning various performances and art exhibits through the summer. An area will be set aside for small merchants and food and drink vendors, with alcohol sales allowed.

Businesses and organizations interested in taking part should email [email protected].

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2^nd) called the activities “an excellent kickoff to a project that will one day create over 20 new acres of permanent open space along the Chicago River.”

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There’s no more popular player in sports than the second-string quarterback.

To Bears fans, though, Justin Fields has taken it to another level. In the first month after he was drafted No. 11 overall, Fields’ had three jerseys among the NFL’s best-selling five. Last week, he received a standing ovation at Wrigley Field that lasted long enough to make him uncomfortable.

He’s, potentially, the franchise quarterback for a team that’s never had one.

Some fans are growing impatient already, despite — and also because of — coach Matt Nagy’s firm stance that Andy Dalton will start in Week 1.

Fields is no stranger to attention — he used to get stopped shopping at Target in Columbus, Ohio. He said there’s no reason not to embrace the love — “There’s a lot of people who would wanna be in my shoes right now,” he said — or the expectations.

“Of course I feel it,” he said, “But great things don’t happen all at once.”

After the last snap of the Bears’ mandatory minicamp Thursday, the Ohio State alum walked a fine line. He’ll bide his time as the backup, even as his competitiveness makes him want more. He said he believes in the Bears’ plan to let Dalton start as they develop the rookie, but he has to remind himself to be patient.

“I mean if I don’t believe in it, then it’s not going to work out,” said Fields, who went to dinner with Dalton and his wife recently. “My job is strictly to get better, be the best quarterback I can be and, you know, help my team win. That’s what I am going to do whether it’s starting, whether it’s sitting.”

It’s unclear if Bears fans can stay just as patient. Nagy, though, continued to detail just how far Fields has to come.

The Bears installed a new play Thursday morning that Fields ran in a red zone drill. He didn’t read the defense properly, though, and threw an interception at the goal line to leaping linebacker Christian Jones.

Nagy immediately asked Fields why he threw the ball there. Fields told him what he saw.

“We can correct him,” Nagy said. “And now the next time that play’s called, I’m gonna guarantee you that he won’t make the same mistake.”

A half-hour later, Fields made that very guarantee.

“Personally, I tend not to make a mistake more than one time,” he said. “So once I’ve made that mistake I learn from that mistake and I mean there’s a 99% chance that that same mistake won’t happen again.”

That confidence is part of what attracted the Bears to their new quarterback. It’s what will make training camp so compelling: how will Fields — who has only participated in three practices alongside the Bears’ defensive starters — handle failure? How quickly will he grow from it? Will Bears coaches be able to tell?

Fields and the rest of the rookie class will spend another week studying at Halas Hall. Fields plans to return to Chicago a few weeks before training camp in July, but not before taking a vacation with his family. He still plans to work out and study the Bears’ plays for 45 minutes per day. Then he has to take out his phone.

As part of Fields’ homework, he takes out his phone and records audio of himself reading off one of the Bears’ plays. Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo wants Fields — who called plays in the huddle maybe 10 percent of the time in college — to master the right words, but also the intonation. He needs to call the play as though he’s speaking, not reading.

And then he needs to send the audio to DeFilippo.

“I like to do something every day,” Fields said. “Just to have that peace of mind knowing that I’m getting better each and every day.”

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A 21-year-old man who was once featured in a Chicago Magazine profile when he was a teenager has been charged with murder for his alleged role in a deadly East Garfield Park shooting.

Jerryon Stevens faces a count of first-degree murder for the apparent gang-related attack that claimed the life of 20-year-old Jim Courtney-Clarks in December, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said Thursday.

On Dec. 22, Stevens allegedly drove a stolen Honda to the 700 block of North Ridgeway Avenue, where two members of the Traveling Vice Lords got out of the Honda and opened fire at Courtney-Clarks and another man as they walked on the sidewalk.

Courtney-Clarks was struck in the abdomen and later died at a hospital. The other man was able to escape.

Chicago police

Investigators used surveillance camera footage and cellphone records to track Stevens and the two gunmen, who have not been charged, DeBoni said.

Stevens’ face and distinctive clothing was recorded by a camera at a convenience store where Stevens met up with the gunmen before the shooting, DeBoni said.

Stevens was also identified by a Chicago police officer who viewed the surveillance footage and recognized him, DeBoni said.

He was arrested Monday.

Stevens was the subject of a lengthy 2016 profile story in Chicago Magazine that detailed his dreams and the hardships he faced growing up on the West Side.

He was working at a family business and for a moving company to support his young daughter before his arrest, an assistant public defender said Thursday.

Judge Mary Marubio ordered Stevens held without bail.

He is expected back in court July 8.

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Tiffany Revisits ‘I Think We’re Alone Now,’ Preps New Album, Ahead Of Two Shows At City Winery

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By Jim Ryan,
today at 4:49 pm

Heading into sessions for her 11th studio album Shadows, the goal for pop star Tiffany was to push her music forward while reconnecting with the fun, celebratory tone that defined some of her most well-known songs in the 1980s.

Working with producer Mark Alberici at Rockfield Studios in Wales, Tiffany enlisted friends Johnny Martin (bass) and Scot Coogan (drums) of rockers L.A. Guns. The result is a batch of slick new songs fueled by the pop punk heavy first single “Hey Baby,” a rollicking love song which conjures up images of The Go-Go’s, alongside a rocking reworked rendition of her biggest hit “I Think We’re Alone Now.”

“It’s an evolution thing. I’m growing and you just have to kind of go onto the next thing,” said Tiffany ahead of two shows (5 PM and 8 PM) Sunday at City Winery. “The ‘Mixtape’ tour was a blast and gave me a little bit of the re-connection with the mall tour fans and all of that. And I think this record is a little bit of a throwback to that. That fun 80s sound, punk kind of sound – easy to digest music with a very modern production sound now. It’s the best I think I’ve done in a long time. And it’s definitely a new foundation for me,” said the singer.

“I have lots of fond memories in Chicago. I used to go to Gene and Gorgetti all of the time. And Scoozi. It was so good. I love a lot of things about Chicago. I also have family there. So it’s very nice to be able to see people and hang out. I’m very much looking forward to these shows because they’re going to get to see me after over a year.”

I spoke with Tiffany about recording the new album Shadows, returning to the road, Sunday’s pair of shows at City Winery and launching Let’s Food With Tiffany, an interactive new endeavor geared toward celebrating the art of cooking with her fans. A transcript of our phone conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below…

You’ve been back on the road now for a bit. What’s it been like getting back in front of fans after the last 15 months?

TIFFANY: It has been amazing. It’s been awesome. I’ve been doing live touring now consistently for like seven years. So it’s been my everything. I did movies and I’ve done some cooking, especially now with my company Let’s Food With Tiffany, I’m growing that more and more. Prior to that I did Food Network and little things that interest me – but mostly it was touring and new music. It feels amazing to finally have the Shadows album coming out and the single “Hey Baby” moving forward and playing that live. And now having people really feel confident and comfortable more and more to come to the live shows – I’m forever grateful to everybody. 

So it’s very positive. I’m totally excited. I know that a lot of people are waiting until the fall to really start their tours but, for us, we kept waiting for these shows. They kept getting pushed back – but never off the books. So there was always a little hope. So now to be able to do it? I love all of the venues who are moving forward, working with us and making the “Shadows” tour happen. 

Your band now features Johnny Martin and Scot Coogan of L.A. Guns. How did you guys wind up getting together? 

Tiffany: Johnny Martin is a friend of mine. I met him through my producer Mark Alberici. He’s been rocking L.A. Guns and I’m a fan of them.

It ended up that we were working on a song together for the record, for Shadows. It was just great to be in the studio recording “Keep on Swinging” – which is a Rival Sons song. And that will be out. But I got to know the band more and more. And we thought what about a guest appearance with Johnny and Scot? That way we could also promote the single eventually and get people to know who we are and why. And then it just led organically to the tour. And we’re having a blast.

Your new single “Hey Baby” certainly leans more in that pop punk/rock direction. It kind of reminds me of The Go-Go’s a little bit. Did you grow up as a fan of that stuff?

Tiffany: I did. Yes. I’m a big fan. Belinda is a friend of mine and she’s lovely.

There’s something about the 80s that was exactly that – celebratory and fun and lighthearted. I definitely wanted to bring that back – even prior to COVID. I didn’t know we were going to be in this situation. But I thought, “We just made a really fun album. I want to do something that’s a little more uptempo and a little more of a celebration – still with my quirky side.” As a writer, it’s still got a little bit of a sharp, cheeky side to it. But it needed to be a little bit more like a throwback. 80s music had so much fun and uniqueness to it. For whatever reason, it was easier to digest. And I’m very proud to be a part of that.

So we have a little bit of that punk – I think that comes from the punk element that my producer Mark Alberici brings to the record. We were very mindful of creating something that had that little wink throwback to the 80s but was still very modern.

“Hey Baby” was one of the front runners on the album. And once we got that under our belt, we were like, “Cool. Now we have a sound. Now we know where we’re going. Now we can kind of have fun and experiment.” And then the songs just kept coming.

So I’m very excited about this album.

[embedded content]

When did you record Shadows – was it during the pandemic or prior to?

Tiffany: It was done before – late 2018 into 2019. We had it ready to kind of go in the first part of 2020. I was literally high fiving with all of my team. The “Shadows” tour was maybe six weeks away. We were going to start it slowly. We were ready to go. There were so many good things. And I was going to release the record – because it’s always better to release anything you’re doing while you’re out on the road. It’s just better. So this was all happening and literally two weeks after our meeting to push go, COVID happened. It was like, “What?!” Like everybody, at first, it was like, “Oh this will just be a week, two weeks…” Who would’ve known what was gonna happen?

But, in a weird way, it’s perfect timing now. Because this music really is a lot of fun. It is really a celebration of the past and reconnecting. And then rocking out. Which I think people really want to do right now.

The “Hey Baby” single includes a new version of “I Think We’re Alone Now.” What’s the key to taking a song like that, that fans know so well, and putting a unique new spin on it today? 

Tiffany: The song is really special. It just can be done so many different ways: ska, rock, punk. I’ve done it a lot of different ways. And that’s the magic of it really. It keeps having its own life. I love to be a part of that. I’m never tired of singing that song. To remake it and do the new video – go back to my high school and include that – it was a blast to really kind of celebrate the life of this song that I recorded when I was 14 and still continues to make people happy.

We rock it every show. It’s a lot of fun. Because I do like the harder guitars on it just for a modern, updated twist with a little more sass – like me. I love it. It’s a lot of fun to play every night. 

[embedded content]

Can you tell me a bit about Let’s Food With Tiffany? What does that entail? 

Tiffany: Let’s Food With Tiffany was really created after I was going on the road for so long and just learned a lot about my body, a lot about my health and a lot about endurance. It’s a full schedule. So eating processed food for me became where I couldn’t do it. I started noticing a lot of fuzziness – things that were building up in my body. So it became imperative for me to eat clean and pretty much cook.

So Airbnb’s were created on my schedule, where I’d house myself and the band. It’s a little easier if you’re staying a few days somewhere. But what it allows me to do is cook and then cook for the band. And that’s how these last two albums were created, Pieces Of Me and Shadows, where we record at Rockfield in Wales. One studio is right next door to the kitchen. They’re creating music and I’m coming in and out but I’m also creating all of these wonderful, delicious meals. So that’s just kind of the way that we work. It brings a little bit of home. It brings a little normality. But, really, you also feel better. 

So that led to me cooking for the band. And before I knew it, fans were catching on.  They were using some of my recipes. Because I was just saying it, “Oh, I cooked chicken for the band last night and it was this, this and that…” Unbeknownst to me, they had kind of started their own little cooking following together where they were sharing things. It was brought to my attention and I thought, “Well, it would be a lot of fun to do meet and greets where I cook for people. It could be outdoors, it could be at an Airbnb…”

All of these different things were created – and then COVID happened. So it was always supposed to be part of the tour. When COVID hit, I thought, “What could I do that I really love, that I’d like to develop that will keep me sane? It can’t really be music right now. So, cooking!” I’m a very active person. I like to be proactive. Let’s Food With Tiffany was created in the first week of COVID and it’s really about let’s food together. Let’s cook together. Let’s travel together.

The original idea was to travel all over. For people who’ve never traveled before, I go to Thailand or India. That was one thing that I learned about my family. It wasn’t just me traveling and going to other places, it was being introduced to different cultures and different people and different ways of life. So that’s what the road gives me on a continual basis. So why not food together as well?

So Let’s Food With Tiffany, that’s really what it is. It’s a traveling cooking club when you sign up for a membership. You get my recipes and interaction with me on a different level – more insight into my life. So I really enjoy it.

The best thing to do is go to the website. Because this tour does have a lot of pop up elements. That’s the one thing. We’re in the shadows! There’s so many different things as we’re moving forward from COVID and venues are opening up more. I’ll also have in stores where “Hey Baby” the actual vinyl is physically available. So old school! The best thing for all the pop ups is to go to Tiffanytunes.com.

_____________________________________________________________________________

TIFFANY
______________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, June 20, 2021

City Winery

Two shows at 5PM and 8PM
Doors open at 4PM and 7PM

Tickets: $55

To purchase tickets for the 5PM SHOW, click HERE
To purchase tickets for the 8PM SHOW, click HERE
______________________________________________________________________________

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City Winery, Johnny Martin, Mark Alberici, Scot Coogan, Shadows, Tiffany

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Meet The Blogger

Jim Ryan

Jim Ryan has written about music in print and online for a variety of Chicagoland publications for over fifteen years. In addition to duties filling in as Traffic Anchor on CLTV or in the helicopter on NBC 5, you can also catch him Sunday afternoons at 3PM central as host of “The Rock N’ Roll Radio Program” on AM 1420 WIMS (streaming at wimsradio.com and via the free TuneIn Radio app on any computer, phone or device).

Jim has also worked locally for WXRT-FM, lives within walking distance of the Metro and is an avid White Sox and Blackhawks fan whose first live concert experience came at Comiskey Park in 1984 during the Jacksons’ “Victory” tour.

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Unanimous Supreme Court slaps down woke enforcers.

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By Dennis Byrne,
today at 3:10 pm

Rules Philadelphia may not punish a Catholic adoption agency for following its religious beliefs.

A First Amendment victory.

A Catholic social service agency can’t be denied a city contract to find foster parents for needy children because the agency refused to certify same-sex couples as foster parents, Supreme Court ruled today.

That flowed from the  Catholic Social Services’ sincerely held religious belief that does not sanction same-sex marriage. For that reason, Philadelphia booted the agency from what it had been successfully doing–finding qualified foster care parents for struggling children.

In Fulton v. Philadelphia, Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, noted that

The Catholic Church has served the needy children of Philadelphia for over two centuries. In 1798, a priest in the City organized an association to care for orphans whose parents had died in a yellow fever epidemic….

When criticism of asylums mounted in the Progressive Era, see id., at 37–40, the Church established the Catholic Children’s Bureau to place children in foster homes. Petitioner CSS continues that mission today….

Because the agency understands the certification of prospective foster families to be an endorsement of their relationships, it will not certify unmarried couples—regardless of their sexual orientation—or same-sex married couples. CSS does not object to certifying gay or lesbian individuals as single foster parents or to placing gay and lesbian children. No same-sex couple has ever sought certification from CSS. If one did, CSS would direct the couple to one of the more than 20 other agencies in the City, all of which currently certify same-sex couples. For over 50 years, CSS successfully contracted with the City to provide foster care services while holding to these beliefs.

In reversing a 3-0 appeals court decision, Roberts wrote:

The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment.

Roberts noted that the agency did not seek to impose its view against same-sex marriage on anyone else. The agency wasn’t preventing same sex couples from fostering children; there are some 20 other agonies in the city that are more than willing to accommodate them.

That didn’t matter to the crowd of the self-sainted who demanded that everyone kneel to their beliefs. Never mind the First Amendment that guarantees everyone the right to practice their religion.

Wokesters’ eyes will be spinning at the decision, claiming that its another win for the religious right’s assault on the victimized. But here’s a view that it is a victory for liberalism, “properly understood.”

But the larger reason why the decision deserves praise is that it upholds a key principle of political liberalism. The First Amendment protects the free exercise of religion. Such exercise is not limited to individuals attending church or praying in private homes. It’s a freedom of those individuals to join together and associate with others of their faith in civil society. That includes the freedom of a Catholic social service agency to facilitate adoptions, even when the foundational beliefs undergirding that agency preclude facilitating adoptions for same-sex couples.

To insist that such organizations set aside their foundational beliefs when they clash with the moral convictions of ideological progressivism — or, in the language of Fulton decision, to force a Catholic organization “to curtail its mission or to certify same-sex couples as foster parents in violation of its religious beliefs” — is an act of illiberalism. That’s because it amounts to insisting not just that the state but also private religious entities must uniformly affirm a comprehensive moral view different from and in conflict with their own as the price of entering the public square. That effectively turns the country into a political community with an established church of progressive moral absolutism.  

Liberalism is, or should be, an ideology open to a rich and vibrant pluralism. Which is exactly what the Supreme Court has affirmed in its decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia.

Amen to that. If anything, it illustrates just how far from their roots that progressives/liberals/Democrats have wandered in the campaign to impose their views on everyone.

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Dezhawn Seargent, 26, drove a borrowed SUV in the Aug. 15 shooting, prosecutors said. The gunmen targeted a rival gang member but instead shot and killed a 19-year-old woman, prosecutors said.

The alleged getaway driver in a deadly shooting on the Eisenhower Expressway has been charged with murder.

Dezhawn Seargent had been driving a borrowed SUV alongside a car a rival gang member was traveling in when two gunman inside Seargent’s SUV opened fire on the morning of Aug. 15, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Kevin DeBoni said Thursday.

The rival gang member was not injured.

Instead, the gunmen struck 19-year-old Lakasia Gregory in the head and leg on the Interstate 290 near Central Avenue, DeBoni said.

The driver — the girlfriend of the man the uncharged gunmen were targeting — was also struck in the arm, DeBoni said. That victim survived.

Seargent, 26, had borrowed the SUV used in the shooting hours earlier and drove the gunmen to the block where the victims were hanging out to conduct surveillance, DeBoni said.

When Gregory and the others got into their car and drove away, Seargent followed them onto the expressway and then sped up alongside them, DeBoni said.

ShotSpotter gunshot detectors recorded a barrage of gunfire from two different guns. Sixteen shell casings were collected and the victims’ car was struck 10 times, DeBoni said.

After the shooting, Seargent dropped the SUV back to the individual he borrowed it from, DeBoni said.

That woman later found a shell casing on her driveway near the front door of her SUV. The shell casing, later recovered by Illinois State Police investigators, matched the caliber and make of the casings found at the crime scene, DeBoni said.

Seargent was identified through surveillance videos and phone records, which showed he he and one of the gunmen had communicated before and after the shooting, DeBoni said. Geo-tracking features on Seargent’s cellphone phone also allegedly matched the movements of the car before the murder.

Seargent grew up in the west suburbs, where he still has family, and graduated from Lyons Township High School, an assistant public defender said. Seargent was laid off during the pandemic and is currently unemployed, the defense attorney added.

Judge Mary Marubio ordered Seargent held without bail.

He is expected back in court July 8.

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