Trump’s DOJ asks judge to halt first reparations program in U.S. history
The U.S. Department of Justice has intervened in a lawsuit, asking a judge to halt Evanston, Illinois's pioneering reparations program. The DOJ argues the program, which uses revenue from marijuana sales to provide $25,000 grants for housing to Black residents descended from those who faced 20th-century housing discrimination, is unconstitutional and violates the Equal Protection Clause by distributing benefits based on race. Program advocates, however, view the federal intervention as a tactic to discourage similar initiatives nationwide, asserting that the program is directly linked to historical city policies and harms. AI
