Clay County Judge grants restraining order on Pritzker’s stay-at-home order

Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney granted a restraining order to temporarily block the governor’s latest executive order Monday afternoon, putting the statewide stay-at-home plan in jeopardy.

The ruling technically only releases Bailey from the executive order. 

But Pritzker said during a press conference on Monday that the worry is that cities and counties across the state could reopen. 

“That is the danger that Darren Bailey has put the state in,” Pritzker said. 

“People are in danger as a result of the judge’s ruling of the suit that was brought by Darren Bailey. We certainly are going to act in a swift fashion to try to have this ruling overturned; certainly put a stay in place. I mean, it’s frankly, it’s insulting, it’s dangerous and people’s safety and health has now been put at risk; there may be people who contract coronavirus as a result of what Darren Bailey has done now.”

A status hearing is set for next week. The Governor’s current order remains in place.

“We are certainly going to act in a swift action to have this ruling overturned.” Pritzker said.

A lawsuit brought by Rep. Darren Bailey (R-109th district) Thursday argued that Pritzker’s emergency powers should have lapsed April 8, and to deem all subsequent proclamations and orders invalid. Pritzker extended the Illinois stay-at-home order to May 30 on April 23 as COVID-19 infections continued to rise throughout the state. 

Bailey’s attorney, Thomas Devore, said Friday that “Pritzker seemingly believes he can issue continuing proclamations recognizing the same COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘continuing disaster’ every 30 days whereby he can continually invoke the emergency powers of the Illinois Emergency Management Act into perpetuity,” DeVore wrote in a court filing.

“If the Legislature intended to delegate the Office of the Governor the emergency powers for the complete duration of a continuing disaster they would have written as much into the (act),” he added.

Currently, IIllinois Department of Public Health is reporting a total of 45,883 cases, including 1,983 deaths, in 96 counties in Illinois. 

Pritzker said during a press conference on Monday that Bailey’s actions and the ruling are putting Illinoisians at risk. 

“I have affirmed many times over that Republicans and Democrats alike, public servants from all corners of Illinois have come together since the earliest days of this public health crisis to make incredibly difficult choices, understanding that painful as our actions might be the question boils down to life and death” he said. “ COVID-19 is responsible for denying the people of Illinois the precious moments of togetherness and steadiness of routine that have been put on pause in response to this global pandemic. The stay at home order has prevented 10s of thousands of illnesses and thousands of deaths.

“Representative 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 who 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, at best, no one is better off because of this ruling and at worst people’s health and safety will suffer tremendously.

“In Illinois and nationally we are operating on decades of precedent in terms of how disaster proclamations work from floods to tornadoes and now a global pandemic disasters don’t necessarily evaporate on a 30 day timeframe.”

Pritzker said that while the Illinois Attorney General’s office under the leadership of Kwame Raoul is working to get a stay on the ruling.

“In the interim, we will be issuing new public health directives so that we can continue to respond to this public health crisis,” he said.  “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 are stay at home order.”