Press Release from the MacArthur Justice Center. Read it on their website here.
CHICAGO, IL — Today, the MacArthur Justice Center and Legal Action Chicago sought leave to file an amicus brief on behalf of fifteen advocacy, social services, and direct legal services groups, including several organizations serving domestic violence survivors, in support of the Court Access, Safety, and Participation Act (CASPA), an Illinois law being challenged in federal court by the Trump Administration in the case USA v. Illinois. The Cook County Public Defender also joined the amicus brief representing the Office’s own interests on behalf of affected clients, witnesses, and staff.
CASPA provides statewide protections against civil arrests in and around courthouses, including by ICE and other federal agents. It enforces the longstanding common law privilege in the state against such arrests. CASPA recognizes that courts can only serve the interests of justice when parties, witnesses, and attorneys can access them without fear of being harassed or detained. Without CASPA, parties weighing whether to attend their court hearings, witnesses deciding whether to testify, and attorneys advising their clients would be forced to base their decisions not on the merits of their cases, but on the risk of civil arrest near the courthouse doors.
Illinois’ takeover by ICE and CBP in 2025, particularly during Operation Midway Blitz, showed the consequences of courthouse intimidation and arrest. Illinoisans lived in fear of being harassed and arrested by ICE. These included survivors forced to choose between seeking protection from their abusers and facing federal law enforcement.
The amicus brief recounts the experience of the signatory organizations and their clients. They tell of cases in which prosecutions were dropped because victims or witnesses were too afraid to go to court, cases in which people appearing as defendants were arrested by ICE when attempting to attend their criminal proceedings, and instances in which survivors dropped requests for civil orders of protection or stopped participating in related criminal cases against their abusers.
“Civil arrests in and around courthouses threaten public safety and the rule of law,” said Alexa Van Brunt, Director of the Illinois office at the MacArthur Justice Center. “CASPA protects Illinoisans’ most fundamental rights—their access to courts and thus their access to justice. The law must not be overturned. The stakes are far too high.”
“When people are too afraid to approach the courthouse steps, sometimes justice suffers and sometimes it stops,” said Daniel J. Schneider, Of Counsel of Legal Action Chicago. “Our legal system only works when parties, witnesses, lawyers, victims, and their families can participate without fear of the process becoming a pathway to unrelated civil detention.”
In September 2025, the MacArthur Justice Center represented a similar group of advocates in a petition asking then-Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County Timothy Evans to bar ICE arrests in and around Cook County courthouses. In October 2025, the Chief Judge responded by issuing General Administrative Order No. 2025-10, Common Law Privilege Against Civil Arrests for People Attending Court. CASPA was passed by the General Assembly that same month and signed into law in December 2025.
The MacArthur Justice Center and Legal Action Chicago have submitted this amicus brief on behalf of Apna Ghar, Ascend Justice, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (“CAASE”), Cabrini Green Legal Aid, Family Rescue, Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy, Law Center for Better Housing, Legal Action Chicago, Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services, Life Span, Mujeres Latinas en Acción, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, and Westside Justice Center. The Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender submitted the amicus brief on behalf of itself.
For more information or to speak with our legal experts, please contact Jasmine Razeghi at jasmine.razeghi@macarthurjustice.org