Early voting is now underway across Illinois and Primary day is March 17 for the U.S. Senate race. Jonathan Dean is one of 10 Democrats vying for the outgoing Senator Dick Durbin’s seat. Dean is a Chicago-based lawyer and a solar energy entrepreneur.
He started a business for developing solar projects in Illinois in 2023 and has also been an advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Dean recently shared his story about a traumatic incident when he was a child and gave his thoughts on policies involving raising the minimum wage, solar energy, and immigration on the 21st show.
Interview Highlights
On filing a lawsuit after surviving sexual abuse as a child
“I don’t want to get too legally technical, but in a lot of different ways, the law really disfavors survivors of sexual assault, and in particular, survivors of childhood sexual assault. And then, even if a survivor is able to file a lawsuit and not have it dismissed, pursuing justice is an emotionally grueling process, because the defendants, whoever they are, are legally entitled to what is termed in the legal world, Discovery before trial.”
On the legality of ICE operations
“And I’ll say one additional thing about this is that it’s my belief in assessment, both just as a citizen, but also as a lawyer, that the ice deployment should be ruled unconstitutional the immigration law unconstitutional in and of itself, because, you know, the immigration laws that ice is tasked with enforcing are either civil violations, so, you know, like, kind of on the same footing as a traffic ticket or misdemeanors. You know, 95-96% of the crimes that they’re enforcing, you know, don’t even rise to the level of felonies, yet they’re enforcing these non-violent crimes with violence.”
On renewable energy
“It’s a feeling of personal autonomy and personal responsibility that you don’t need to rely on anyone else for, for your energy needs, whether you’re getting it, whether you installed them on your home, or whether you subscribe to a community solar garden, like like the ones that my company develops, and it’s gonna save you money.”
On raising the minimum wage
“Certainly, I think there would need to be some kind of phase up to $26 an hour to take it slowly and so that we don’t shock the economy, like you said, add additional inflation to the economy, so it would be…it would be a gradual process. There might be some small businesses who are, who are exempt from that level.”