The lawsuit against Cook County was filed in 2022 in Chicago federal court. A separate action has been lodged against a group of other county governments, including Illinois’ second and third largest counties, DuPage and Lake counties. And yet another lawsuit is pending in federal court in southern Illinois. The cases all center on one common accusation: That Illinois and its county governments have all but illegally ignored a recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision and continued to seize homes over unpaid property taxes.

Cahokia Mounds is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Historic Landmark. The site is where tens of thousands of the Mississippian people once lived. Officials announced the closure in March 2022, anticipating a $5 million project to replace old systems and a weathered roof would take a year or more.