This is a brutal, although not yet fatal, blow to Emanuel, Lucas and the high-handed city lawyers who've tried to ramrod this project down Chicago's throat and onto Chicago's lakefront. In a practical sense, a legal battle that may drag on interminably now can move forward. In the more important legal sense of right and wrong, it affirms that Judge Darrah takes seriously the federal courts' responsibility to enforce the public trust doctrine he cites (more on that later). That's especially crucial when Emanuel is trying to give Lucas control of 17 acres between Soldier Field and McCormick Place. At a cost of $10. For a 99-year lease. Renewable for another 198 years. That is, for nearly three centuries.