A conservative watchdog group has filed a lawsuit challenging Evanston, Illinois’s reparations program, arguing that the city’s eligibility rules amount to unconstitutional racial discrimination for race based payments.
According to Fox News Digital, Judicial Watch says it is suing to block the city from issuing additional payments that are limited to Black residents and certain descendants who lived in Evanston during a defined historical period. The group’s attorney, Michael Bekesha, told Fox News the organization believes reparations should be tied to specific government wrongdoing and individual harm, and that the Evanston program instead distributes money “solely on the basis of race.”
The city’s Reparations Committee recently announced a new round of $25,000 payments to 44 residents. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of five plaintiffs, contends that the program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by requiring race as a condition for receiving a public benefit. Bekesha told Fox News that the plaintiffs are people who, “but for the color of their skin,” would qualify for the payment, and that the preferred outcome is a court order declaring the policy unconstitutional and stopping further race-based distributions.
Evanston officials declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation. The outlet also reported that 137 people have received payments totaling $3.47 million so far, with additional recipients expected later this year. City officials have described the payments as housing-related assistance, and the program’s funding has been tied largely to local revenue sources, including real estate transfer taxes and cannabis-related taxes.
The lawsuit adds to a growing national debate over how reparations programs should be structured and whether race-based eligibility in government programs can survive constitutional scrutiny.
