(The Center Square) – The Illinois Supreme Court has vacated a challenge to the state’s Firearm Owner’s ID card law.
The case heard by the Supreme Court in May focuses on two individuals who were charged with reckless discharge of firearms, had their FOID cards suspended, but later pleaded to misdemeanors, which doesn’t rise to the level of a FOID card being revoked.
In March 2023, Madison County Associate Judge Donald Foster said the law allowing Illinois State Police to suspend FOID cards “is hereby declared unconstitutional as applied to persons charged with a felony but not yet convicted of a felony.”
Representing the firearms owners in front of the Illinois Supreme Court, attorney Thomas Maag told the Supreme Court his clients have standing.
“The statute has not been repealed,” Maag said. “If they were to be charged similarly in the future, they would be subject to the exact same prohibition.”
During oral arguments, Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis questioned standing in the case as their FOID cards were reinstated before the hearing.
“This lawsuit looks prospectively. It doesn’t look back,” Theis said. “It doesn’t say, ‘I was injured therefore I have damages.’ It looks forward, what will happen in the future?”
Justice Mary K. O’Brien asked about whether the case is moot.
“Don’t you have to get past the hurdle of having an actual live controversy to decide?” she asked, considering the litigants’ FOID cards were reinstated.
Maag reiterated the law is still in place.
“It is enforced routinely, thousands if not tens of thousands of times a year,” Maag said.
Despite that argument, justices unanimously enjoined the suspension of FOID cards for the litigants but vacated a lower court’s ruling the law was unconstitutional.
“In entering this disposition, we express no opinion on the merits of the parties’ other arguments. As we are vacating the circuit court’s judgment in favor of plaintiffs, they are no longer the prevailing parties, so we also vacate the circuit court’s order granting plaintiffs’ petition to recover costs and fees,” the ruling said. “The cause is remanded to the circuit court with directions to dismiss plaintiffs’ first amended complaint.”
