By Townhall Chicago News Staff
The LaSalle County Board passed a resolution reaffirming the supremacy of the U.S. and Illinois constitutions and prohibiting the application of foreign or religious law within the county, in a narrow 13-12 vote.
Board member Jim Reid, who represents District 4, authored the resolution and said he expected broader support. “The resolution was very narrow — 13 to 12, which I was extremely surprised by. I thought it would be more of a bipartisan vote,” Reid said.
Reid said he pursued the measure after learning that an Islamic organization had sought to purchase a defunct resort property in the county. He said the resolution was intended to block any legal system from superseding the U.S. Constitution, not to restrict individual religious practice.
“There’s nothing in there that says anything about restricting religious rights,” Reid said. “But the minute you tell me that you want to overturn the Constitution, make Islam the law of the land, and only one religion in the entire United States, I have a serious issue with that.”
The resolution was modeled on a similar measure passed in a Texas county, originally drafted by U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, according to Reid.
Reid was appointed to the LaSalle County Board on Feb. 13 by Board Chairman Don Jensen, filling a vacancy left when former board member Beth Findley Smith moved out of the district. The appointment was ratified by unanimous acclamation of the full board.
An Illinois native, Reid served as a military police officer in the U.S. Marine Corps before working as a police officer with the San Francisco Police Department. He later worked as a commercial truck driver before retiring and joining the county board.
The board did not release further detail during the broadcast on which organization sought to purchase the resort property or on the objections raised by the 12 board members who voted against the resolution.
Reid said the resolution does not name any specific religion in its operative text and applies broadly to any foreign or religious legal system that would attempt to supersede the Constitution. He said he based the measure on the Texas county version after reviewing how it was drafted by Self’s office. The board’s next regular meeting had not been scheduled as of the broadcast.
