In some previous posts, I have alluded to pending lawsuits
related to my late husband’s death. One
of these suits is against the Champaign County Sherriff’s Office and the
Illinois State Police.
To summarize, my husband did NOT have a valid FOID (Firearm
Owner’s Identification Card); he had a very public history of mental illness in
our community; he was labeled a mental prohibitor by the State of Illinois and
he had an arsenal of weapons and ammunition.
I had an order of protection against him, informed
authorities about his gun collection, repeatedly asked for help getting the
guns out of the house and was repeatedly denied.
A suit was filed on my behalf in federal court on the basis
of sex discrimination. Just to clarify,
I have always considered myself a conservative and have never ridden on the
coattails of any kind of discriminatory status.
However, this suit was brought forth based on the fact that
law enforcement stated that I was “crying wolf” when requesting help, that law
enforcement refused to remove the weapons stating that “as long as my husband’s
name was on the title the house they would do nothing,” among other things. These accusations are further validated by an
affidavit from a now retired Illinois State Police officer who I reached out to
for assistance.
We received a very favorable ruling at the district level
that this case had merit and could proceed. The State of Illinois then filed an Interlocutory
Appeal at the 7th Circuit Appellate Court claiming that there were
no legal grounds for the case to be brought forward. Last September, each side was allotted 15
minutes to present their respective argument as to why the case should or
should not go forth.
Earlier this week, we received a ruling . . . almost one
year afterwards. We lost at the 7th
Circuit.
To further magnify the gravity of this outcome, it should be
known that Illinois has some of the strictest gun laws in the country; Illinois
(namely Chicago) has some of the highest gun violence stats in the country; and
more specifically and in my particular case, when authorities are made aware of
an illegal gun collection they turn their backs and aren’t held accountable.
What happened to my family was a travesty. And now I feel as if our lives are so
insignificant; we really don’t matter and we are left to be nothing more than a
casualty of the system. I’m still trying to process this outcome and Judge
Easterbrook’s decision and summary.
We have a very, very serious societal problem. Until law enforcement, the judiciary system,
mental health providers, and caregivers have a productive dialogue and work together toward change, we will continue to pick up the pieces from tragic
shootings, unnecessary deaths and insurmountable grief.
Yes, more Gabby Gifford’s, more Sandy Hooks,
more Aurora Colorado’s and more Stephanie Bond’s.
Wake Up America!
