SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A journalist in residence at the conservative Illinois Policy Institute is suing legislative leaders after being denied a media credential.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports (https://bit.ly/LPeEY0 ) the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Scott Reeder names House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, along with each of their press secretaries.
Reeder says he was unfairly denied access the press boxes in each chamber after a legislative lawyer said he worked for a lobbying group, not an independent news organization.
Reeder writes columns for the Illinois News Network, which is affiliated with the policy institute.
But Reeder says the prohibition against lobbying hasn’t been uniformly applied in the past. His lawsuit calls the group a “non-partisan public-policy research and education organization.”
Cullerton spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon says her office is reviewing the lawsuit.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, https://www.suntimes.com/index
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