Reuben D. Walker, et al. v. Andrea Lynn Chasteen, as Clerk for the Circuit Court of Will County and as a Representative of All Clerks of the Circuit Courts of All Counties in Illinois, et al.

In January of 2025, the Illinois Supreme Court in Walker v. Chasteen, 2025 IL 130288, based exclusively on a state immunity statute, held that courts were powerless to order the State of Illinois to return $102 million in filing fees taken from its citizens under legislation the same court had held facially unconstitutional and void ab initio. It did so by explicitly resurrecting the primacy of state law over the U.S. Constitution, thereby rejecting its obligation to follow this Court’s interpretation of the Takings Clause in Tyler v. Hennepin County, 598 U.S. 631 (2023). The Illinois Supreme Court compounded its disregard for the primacy of the Constitution by abandoning the obligation of the courts to enforce Petitioners’ constitutional rights, instead telling the Petitioners to seek a refund of the unconstitutional court filing fees from a legislative agency. Accordingly, the questions presented are:

1. May state courts ignore the Supremacy and Takings Clauses of the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by this Court based on arguably contrary provisions of state law?

2. May state courts ignore their obligation to interpret and order compliance with the U.S. Constitution and defer that role to the legislative branch of government?