Supreme Court won’t hear restaurant’s challenge to indoor dining ban

[May 27, 2021]  By SARAH MANSUR
Capitol News Illinois
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SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Supreme Court will not take up a case from a suburban restaurant challenging Gov. JB Pritzker’s indoor dining ban.

FoxFire Tavern in Kane County asked the state’s highest court to hear their case in December after suing Pritzker over his ban in October.

The restaurant won an early victory when a Kane County judge granted the restaurant’s request for a temporary restraining order that allowed FoxFire to ignore the new indoor dining restrictions contained in Pritzker’s executive order.

An appellate court’s decision in November overruled the Kane County judge’s decision, finding the governor’s executive order is valid under the state law that gives the governor certain powers during a disaster. Following that appellate court decision, FoxFire’s attorneys appealed directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.

The announcement Wednesday ends the restaurant’s case at the Illinois Supreme Court.

FoxFire has a similar but separate legal challenge pending in Sangamon County.

The Illinois Supreme Court building is pictured in Springfield. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)

A spokesperson for Pritzker said the governor “is pleased the court rejected this request and sided with upholding Gov. Pritzker’s ability to follow the science and protect the citizens of Illinois.”

Lawyers for FoxFire did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.