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House Speaker Michael Madigan scored a major court victory on Friday for the state’s power brokers. But if you look deeply, there’s a clear silver lining for the people of Illinois. Two proposed state constitutional amendments, one to impose term limits on legislators and the other to wring politics from the state’s legislative redistricting process, were tossed off the November ballot after a Cook County judge ruled them unconstitutional.

Measures that would allow Illinois voters to decide on term limits for legislators and a new political redistricting process can’t appear on November’s ballot, a Cook County judge ruled Friday, in a decision that could be a setback for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Mary Mikva decided the measures didn’t meet constitutional requirements and ruled them invalid. Attorneys for the term limits group vowed to appeal.

Congress should mark the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder by finally moving forward on the bipartisan Voting Rights Amendment Act (VRAA), Common Cause said today.

A diverse coalition of 16 civil rights and democracy organizations unveiled today a set of principles that should guide any process for drawing legislative lines. Endorsing organizations include: Advancement Project, American Civil Liberties Union, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Brennan Center for Justice, CHANGE Illinois, Common Cause, Demos, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, NALEO Educational Fund, Prison Policy Initiative, and Southern Coalition for Social Justice.