Dan Caulkins lost at the Illinois Supreme Court in his case challenging the PICA Gun & Magazine ban. Caulkins’ case challenged the law on “Equal Protection” grounds and garnered a decision back in may throwing out the PICA law. However, the governor and the AG’s office pretty much ignored that ruling and continued as though the law remained in force.
Caulkins recently filed an Petition for Certiorari on November 9th, asking the US Supreme Court to grant “Cert” (shorthand for Certiorari, meaning that SCOTUS will accept the case for review and a decision). A response was due December 14th.
Today, the State of Illinois, via Attorney General Kwame Raoul, issued its response.
What’s this mean in English?
One interpretation from Caulkins’ attorney suggests the State of Illinois accepted the truthfulness of the statements Caulkins asserted in his filing.
My interpretation (and I am not a lawyer) is that Governor Pritzker is simply choosing to triage resources for upcoming hearings and this one did not make the cut. Instead of devoting scarce resources to this, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office is betting that this is one of those 97.2% of petitions the US Supreme Court simply decides not to accept.
Does the likelihood of acceptance go up when the State of Illinois is not responding to the Petition for Cert? Maybe. But even if it goes up 50% (which I’m pretty confident is wildly overstating it), that still means a 96% chance of rejection.
On the other hand, if the long-shot petition is granted, SCOTUS will hear the case. What’s more, this would send shockwaves through the State of Illinois.
If you’re hoping they will issue a preliminary injunction blocking the state from enforcing it, well, you better not hold your breath.
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