Whenever there is a period of excessive unemployment in Illinois, every person who is charged with the duty, either by law or contract, of constructing or building any public works project or improvement for the State of Illinois or any political subdivision, municipal corporation or other governmental unit thereof shall employ only Illinois laborers on such project or improvement, and every contract let by any such person shall contain a provision requiring that such labor be used: Provided, that other laborers may be used when Illinois laborers as defined in this Act are not available, or are incapable of performing the  [**4]  particular type of work involved, if so certified by the contractor and approved by the contracting officer.

(1) "Illinois laborer" refers to any person who has resided in Illinois for at least 30 days and intends to become or remain an Illinois resident.

(2) "A period of excessive unemployment" means any month immediately following 2 consecutive calendar months during which the level of unemployment in the State of Illinois has exceeded 5% . . . .

Every person who is charged with the duty, either by law or contract, of constructing or building any public works project or improvement for the State of Illinois or any political subdivision, municipal corporation or other governmental unit thereof shall employ only Illinois laborers on such project or improvement, and every contract let by any such person shall contain a provision requiring that such labor be used: Provided, that other laborers may be used when Illinois laborers as defined in this Act are not available, or are incapable of performing the particular type of work involved, if so certified by the contractor and approved by the contracting officer.

1. Due process challenges include, among others (para. 31):

(a) depriving Corporate Plaintiffs of the right to employ out-of-state residents;

(b) depriving recent migrants to Illinois of their right to employment;

(c) basing the presumption of excessive unemployment on an unrealistically low figure and using statewide rather than local data to see whether that figure has been exceeded;

(d) using a 30-day residence requirement rather than more reliable indicia; and

(e)  [**8]  enforcing the Act without hearings to determine compliance.

2. Privileges and immunities challenges comprise (para. 33):

(a) preventing employers from hiring without regard to citizenship and requiring them to use certain hiring methods;

(b) preventing new residents from working in Illinois;

(c) preventing nonresidents from working in Illinois; and

(d) treating Illinois residents as nonresidents if their families live outside Illinois.

3. Equal protection challenges involve (para. 35):

(a) infringing the fundamental right to travel;

(b) discriminating against the class of workers who do not live with their families;

(c) discriminating against the class of workers who have previously worked for the same contractor in another state;

(d) discriminating against the class of workers who have resided in Illinois less than 30 days; and

(e) using a different criterion for residency to vote than to work.

4. Commerce Clause challenges are (para. 39):

(a) erecting barriers to entry by out-of-state laborers; and

(b) requiring new residents to sit idle for 30 days before working.

1. He must have personally suffered an actual or threatened injury because of defendants' conduct.

2. His injury must be fairly traceable to defendants' challenged action.

3. His injury must be redressable by the court.

To establish a due process violation, [plaintiffs] must show: "(1) a protected property or liberty interest, and (2) that [they were] deprived of that interest by government action and without due process of law."

1. They purport to find such a violation in defendants' mere efforts to enforce a facially unconstitutional law. But in those terms any law found unconstitutional for some reason would also violate due process -- a needless redundancy.

2. They appear to assert substantive (as contrasted with procedural) due process claims based (a) as to Corporate Plaintiffs, on their rights to employ out-of-state residents and (b) as to Individual Plaintiffs, on their rights to seek employment. Plaintiffs offer no authority to suggest those rights are substantively rooted in the Due Process Clause. They have not been since the Lochner era.

do not have any right to employ individuals. That was determined by the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

1. treating workers who have resided in Illinois less than 30 days differently from those who have resided here longer;

2. treating workers whose families live in another state differently from  [**21]  those whose families live in Illinois; and

3. treating workers whose prior employment was with an out-of-state contractor differently from others.

This is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful, . . . but it is to say that in the light of preexisting law the unlawfulness must be apparent.