In the past, Shaw has publicly supported candidates in legislative, school board and municipal elections. But he also has been accused of being involved behind the scenes in other elections. Critics say the most recent territories Shaw has unsuccessfully tried to gain power over include Calumet Park, Calumet Township, South Holland and Riverdale, where his son Victor unsuccessfully ran for mayor last month. Shaw disagrees with the Cook County state's attorney's decision to intervene and try to prevent Luster from taking office because of Luster's 1991 felony conviction for robbery. On April 23 the state's attorney's office filed a lawsuit seeking to bar Luster from taking office because of the conviction.
State law prohibits felons from holding municipal office.
A circuit court judge has declared the law unconstitutional, but that ruling does not set a legal precedent until it's upheld by a higher court. The state's attorney's lawsuit also claims that Luster should be barred from the office because he did not live in the village a year before the election, as required by law. A Cook County circuit judge Friday ruled that Luster cannot take office until the courts determine he is eligible to do so. He set a hearing on the residency issue for today. A court hearing on whether Luster's felony conviction bars him from holding office will be held Wednesday, just hours before Luster is scheduled to preside over his first Dixmoor Village Board meeting.