Key facts
- Taxpayers may cover legal fees for activists in a dropped ICE protest case near Chicago.
- Prosecutors will not oppose a defense request for legal fees under the Hyde Amendment.
- A lawsuit challenging Iowa's tax sale law has been dismissed by a judge.
- The Iowa tax sale lawsuit was brought by a coalition of landowners and investors.
U.S. taxpayers may end up covering the legal expenses for activists involved in a case related to ICE protests near Chicago. This case has now been dropped by prosecutors. The U.S. Attorney's Office has stated that they will not oppose the defense's request for legal fees. This request is being made under the provisions of the Hyde Amendment, a federal law that allows for the recovery of attorney's fees by defendants in certain criminal cases where the government's prosecution is found to be "frivolous, vexatious, or in bad faith." The specifics of the dropped case and the exact amount of potential legal fees are not detailed.
In a separate legal development, a judge has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged Iowa's tax sale law. The lawsuit was initiated by a coalition of landowners and investors who were contesting the state's tax sale procedures. The judge's decision means the legal challenge against the tax sale law has been unsuccessful. Further details regarding the grounds for the dismissal or the specific aspects of the tax sale law that were challenged are not provided in the source material. These two cases, while distinct, both represent concluded legal disputes with implications for government entities and private citizens.