Justice Department Moves to Join Lawsuit Challenging Evanston Reparations Program 

EVANSTON – The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion to intervene in a civil rights lawsuit challenging Evanston’s reparations program. Judicial Watch filed the class action suit in May 2024, challenging Evanston’s use of race as an eligibility requirement for the program making $25,000 direct cash payments to Black residents and descendants of Black residents who lived in the city between 1919 and 1969. 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 and the Fair Housing Act.