United States Seeks to Intervene in Judicial Watch Lawsuit Challenging Evanston, IL, Reparations Program
City Gives $25,000 Payments to Blacks Only
Washington, DC – Judicial Watch announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion to intervene in Judicial Watch’s class action civil rights lawsuit challenging the City of Evanston’s reparations program, which makes $25,000 direct cash payments to black residents and descendants of black residents who lived in Evanston, Illinois, between 1919 and 1969.
The United States filed its motion and a proposed complaint in intervention in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Judicial Watch’s May 2024 lawsuit (Flinn et al. v. City of Evanston (No. 1:24-cv-04269)).
The Justice Department’s proposed complaint in intervention names the City of Evanston as a defendant and alleges that the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Justice Department also alleges the program violates the Fair Housing Act.
The United States asserts that it has an unconditional right to intervene under Section 902 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000h-2, which allows the attorney general to intervene in cases alleging the denial of equal protection of the laws on account of race when the case is certified to be of general public importance. According to the filing, the acting attorney general has certified that this case is of general public importance. The Justice Department notes in its filing that Judicial Watch’s plaintiffs do not oppose the United States’ intervention but that the City of Evanston does.
In March 2026, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness rejected the City’s attempt to dismiss the case, finding that the plaintiffs, who are white, have standing to pursue their constitutional claims. The city filed its answer on May 8, 2026.
“The Justice Department is right to join our fight against Evanston’s blatantly unconstitutional reparations scheme,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Evanston hands out $25,000 government payments to blacks only—and the Constitution flatly forbids this kind of racial discrimination. We are happy that the United States is following our lead and welcome it as an ally in this historic lawsuit against a woke, racist program.”
Judicial Watch is being assisted in the lawsuit by Christine Svenson of Svenson Legal, LLC.