Judge Quotes Dr. Seuss In Brutal Dismissal Of Blagojevich Lawsuit

CHICAGO — A federal judge eviscerated disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich in a filing Thursday, at one point quoting Dr. Seuss while dismissing the ex-politician’s lawsuit challenging an Illinois Senate resolution that prevents him from running for state or local office due to his convictions.

Judge Steven Seeger made clear in no uncertain terms that the lawsuit would not move forward.

“The book is closed. The last page already turned, and the final chapter of his public life is over. The case never should have been filed,” Seeger wrote in the memorandum opinion and order for the Northern District of Illinois’ Eastern Division, published in full by WGN.

Seeger then went on to cite the Dr. Seuss book, “Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!,” including the following: “The time has come. The time is now. Just Go. Go. GO! I don’t care how. You can go by foot. You can go by cow.”

Blagojevich filed the lawsuit in 2021 after serving about eight of the 14 years to which he was sentenced in federal prison for his corruption case. Former president Donald Trump commuted Blagojevich's sentence in 2020 but the commutation did not undo Blagojevich’s convictions, although an appellate court tossed five of the 18 out in 2015.

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Federal prosecutors accused Blagojevich of attempting to sell then-president-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat, shaking down the CEO of Children's Memorial Hospital for $25,000 in campaign funds and holding up a bill to benefit the racetrack industry in hopes of receiving $100,000 in campaign contributions.

The lawsuit sought a declaration finding that the state senate's resolution preventing Blagojevich from running for office in Illinois was unconstitutional.

"The federal judge's ruling today comes as no surprise,” Blagojevich spokesman Mark Vargas said Thursday in a statement. “The law banning Rod Blagojevich from running for office in Illinois is unconstitutional. The people should be able to decide who they want or don't want to represent them — not federal judges or establishment politicians who are afraid of governors who fight for the people."

In the filing, Seeger noted that a federal judge cannot meddle in state legislative affairs, that Blagojevich lacked standing to assert the voting rights of others, that felons cannot hold public office and that Blagojevich’s claim may not be ripe as he is unsure if he wants to run for office.

“The complaint is riddled with problems,” Seeger wrote. “If the problems are fish in a barrel, the complaint contains an entire school of tuna.”