National Foreign Trade Council, Inc. v. Giannoulias
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
523 F. Supp. 2d 731 (2007)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
In 2005 Illinois adopted the Illinois Act to End Atrocities and Terrorism in Sudan (ISA) in response to the genocidal atrocities the Sudanese government committed against African civilians in Darfur. The ISA restricted Illinois from depositing state funds in banks whose customers had ties to Sudan or from investing public pension funds in Sudan-connected entities. Since the ISA took effect, the state withdrew $275 million from financial institutions that did not comply. The National Foreign Trade Council, eight Illinois municipal pension funds, and eight public-pension fund beneficiaries (plaintiffs) sued Illinois treasurer and attorney general Alexi Giannoulias (defendant) to enjoin enforcement of the ISA. Specifically, the claimants argued that the ISA is preempted by federal law governing relations with Sudan, interferes with the federal government’s conduct of foreign affairs, violates the Foreign Commerce Clause, and is preempted by the National Bank Act.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kennelly, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.