Out of Line

Judge rules Pritzker out of line with stay-at-home – but governor calls suit ‘dangerous,’ ‘insult to all Illinoisans’

The legislator who filed suit is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. He’s also a member of a small group of Downstate GOP legislators who once sponsored legislation to kick Chicago out of Illinois.

By Tina Sfondeles Apr 27, 2020, 5:34pm CDT


Facebook; Tyler LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times file

A judge on Monday ruled in favor of a Downstate legislator who argued in a lawsuit that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker lacks the legal authority to force the Republican to stay home for more than 30 days during the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s a decision the governor said will endanger Illinoisans — and open the door for others to file suit. Pritzker was made aware of the Clay County Circuit Court ruling Monday afternoon during his live COVID-19 briefing.

“Rep. Darren Bailey’s decision to take to the courts to try and dismantle public health directives designed to keep people safe is an insult to all Illinoisans that have been lost during this COVID-19 crisis, and it’s a danger to millions of people who may get ill because of his recklessness,” Pritzker said. “At best, no one is better off because of this ruling, and at worst, people’s health and safety will suffer tremendously in Illinois.”

The governor said his executive orders have operated on precedents set by past disaster proclamations.

“Disasters don’t necessarily evaporate on a 30-day timeframe,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker said his team will be fighting the decision and issuing “new public health directives so that we can continue to respond to this public crisis.”

“At this time I strongly encourage all municipal level leaders, as well as the people of Illinois, who are our strongest weapon against this virus to follow the advice of our scientists here in Illinois and across the nation, of IDPH and the CDC and continue to follow the guidelines of our stay-at-home order,” Pritzker said.

Bailey is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump. He’s also a member of the Illinois House Republican’s so-called “Eastern Bloc,” a small group of legislators who once sponsored legislation to kick Chicago out of Illinois.

Trump won Clay County 79.8% to Hillary Clinton’s 24% in the 2016 presidential election, records show. Clay County has reported only two cases of COVID-19 through Monday.

Bailey was not immediately available for comment on Monday, but last week he told the Chicago Sun-Times he filed suit days after speaking with the governor by telephone.President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the White House, Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Alex Brandon/AP file

“Our people down here are very frustrated with what’s been going on,” Bailey said on Thursday. “We’re not affected by the COVID crisis like the other parts of the state are.”

Bailey said Pritzker called him April 18 to discuss the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on southeastern Illinois. At the time of conversation, Bailey had no plans to sue Pritzker, instead hoping that he could convince Pritzker to ease his restrictions on more rural parts of the state.


“He did make some changes and that was good, but he just, you know, he didn’t make enough,” Bailey said. “We’re not seeing the COVID numbers and crisis in any shape or form down here in the district.”

What that means for Bailey’s constituents in the southern Illinoisan town of Xenia — population 364 — is not immediately clear. The lawsuit filed last week specifically cites Bailey’s own rights being inhibited by the executive orders.

The filing, which sought a temporary restraining order against the stay-at-home order, said Pritzker’s decision limited “Bailey’s constitutionally protected freedoms in that it ordered him to stay at home, or at his place of residence, as well as limited his ability to ravel within the state.”


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While Bailey acknowledges in his suit that Pritzker could declare a 30-day stay-at-home order, he argues the governor does not have the legal authority to extend it past the 30 days under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act.

The Illinois Attorney General’s office is representing Pritzker in the suit, and the governor said they will work to overturn the decision “in a swift fashion.”

“It’s frankly, it’s insulting. It’s dangerous and people’s safety and health has not been put at risk,” Pritzker said. “There may be people who contract coronavirus as a result of what Darren Bailey has done.”

The governor spent some of Monday’s briefings trying to unpack a rash of regionalist heat that’s occurred during the outbreak.

“I want to stop and take a moment now to address those who think that coronavirus is just a Chicago or a Cook County problem, and that Downstate Illinois is immune or doesn’t need restrictions,” Pritzker said. “Folks, that’s just now how this virus operates. COVID-19 knows no county or regional boundaries.”

The governor said two of five counties with the highest infection rates are in southern Illinois: Randolph and Jasper counties. He said the two highest rates of death per capita are also in southern Illinois, in Jasper and Monroe counties.

“That means you’re more likely to die of COVID-19 if you live in either of those two counties than if you live in Chicago or in Cook County,” Pritzker said. “When these factors are taken into account the overall picture around COVID-19 in Illinois is quite different than many have assumed. ... It would be doing a massive disservice to our Downstate residents if we govern only by raw numbers.”