Illinois Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Emanuel's Residency

On Thursday evening, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Rahm Emanuel satisfies the residency requirement to run for mayor of Chicago. In an opinion by Justice Thomas, five members of the Court insisted that the law of residency in Illinois had been settled for almost 150 years and sharply criticized the appellate court for devising a new standard of its own creation. In a separate opinion, Justices Freeman and Burke disagreed that the law was as clear or settled as the majority claimed, but they agreed that Emanuel had not lost his residency status simply because he had rented out his house while served as White House Chief of Staff in Washington, D.C.

A Chicago Tribune story about the case can be found here, and the Supreme Court opinions can be found here.