I.A.S. Newsletter - April 1967 - 7 - 
U.S. SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO ACCEPT DROSTE VS. KERNER CASE 
ee Oe RENE CADE 
In @ statement known to lawyers as "legal Shorthand," the U.S, Supreme 
Court refused to accept an appeal from the Illinois Supreme Court decision 
regarding Droste vs, Kerner, It claimed it "lacked jurisdiction." This is 
the way the courts usually dispose of cases they refuse to accept because of 
a heavy worklead, or because they feel it is not just the "right case" for a 
decision on a fine point of law. The case involved the legislation passed by 
the Dllinois General Assembly which gave 194 acres of Chicago shoreline at 
79th Street and the Lake to the U.S. Steel Co, for a mere $100 an acre, 
The case was brought by the Il]. Federation of Sportamens Clubs, the 
T1linois Audubon Society and the Daniel Burnham Committee, Efforts are being 
made in other directions by our legal counsel to insure that the whele 
effort to protect public shoreline is not yet dead, Citizens and conserva- | 
tion groups are being urged to write to Illinois Attorney-General William 
Clark, State Capitol Bldg., Springfield, Ill, 62706, requesting that he act in 
behalf of the public interest and seek legal action before the Illinois 
Supreme Court which would declare the 1963 special legislation as "unconstitu- 
tional." Attorney-General Clark has maintained in the past that he can act 
only as the lawyer for the governor, Perhaps sufficient mail may persuade 
him that the public is also interested in having his office serve the public 
welfare. 
Because of the generous response of IAS members, we were able to meet 
our obligation te the Save Lake Michigan Fund, and legal costs have now been 
paid, Two other groups also paid a share of the costs, —- R.M. 
BUBBLE, BUBBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE - THE DUNES STORY 
News from the Indiana Dunes area continue to dominate many stories, A 
recent ruling by the Indiana State Attorney-General may result in the expan- 
sion of the state park there, This park makes more money than any other state 
park in Indiana, but many state politicians opposed it way back in the 1920's, 
and they have refused to expand its 2,000 acres these past four decades, 
Now Gov. Roger Branigan suggests that the state may buy land to the east 
and west of its present holdings. The federal government could obtain the 
present state park for the new national lakeshore only by gift of the state. 
Mayor Martin Katz of Gary has asked for an immediate investigation inte 
a new landfill at Gary by the U.S. Steel Co, The permit was first issued by 
the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers in 1956, and the project weuld allow a land- 
fill by the steel firm of over 350 acres, The landfill would be only one 
and one-half miles from the Marquette City Park and five miles west of the 
Bethlehem Steel Co.'s landfill of 300 acres at Porter county. Mayor Katz 
says that Gary's bathing beaches which lie between the two landfills will be- 
come polluted, Mayor Katz has protested to Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall 
and the Indiana congressional delegation as well as the Ind. Stream Pollution 
Beard, 
Cong. Charlotte Reid (R) of Aurora and Cong. Robert Michel (R) of Peoria, 
both of whom oppose the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, serve on the House 
Appropriations Cemmittee, Cong. Sidney Yates (D) and Cong. George Shipley (D), 
who support the Indiana Dunes project, also serve on the same committee, -- R.M. 

