CHICAGO - Chicago's lead attorney says the city is pleased a federal judge will expedite hearings on a lawsuit challenging the planned construction of the Obama Presidential Center in a South Side park.
Responding to U.S. District Judge John Blakey's order Tuesday allowing the Protect Our Parks lawsuit to proceed, Corporation Counsel Ed Siskel said he is glad the judge dismissed some of the lawsuit's claims.
Blakey tossed the plaintiffs' claim that their First Amendment rights would be violated if tax money is used to construct a building to promote former President Barack Obama's political interests.
He also found no merit in the plaintiffs' claim they would suffer because of aesthetic and environmental harm to Jackson Park.
Blakey says his ruling "does not address the true facts of this case."
