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 On Feb. 17 the Fourth District Appellate Court rejected Gov.
J.B. Pritzker’s appeal of a temporary restraining order on his school mask
mandate. The TRO at issue also covered mandates requiring weekly testing of
unvaccinated school employees and the quarantining of students and teachers who
are “close contacts” of confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases.
In addition to the TRO, originally entered on Feb. 4, the Joint Committee on
Administrative Rules (JCAR) of the Illinois General Assembly voted 9-0-2 on Feb.
15 against extending Pritzker’s emergency rules to enforce state mask, exclusion
and testing mandates.
The appellate court ruled JCAR’s action made the appeal moot, as the rules at
the heart of the case are no longer in effect. It did not decide whether the TRO
was proper in the first place.
The TRO is a mechanism to keep the pre-mandate status quo in place while the
cases against the mandates proceeded in court.
Now that the appellate court has rejected Pritzker’s appeal, the case will go
back to Judge Raylene Grischow in the Sangamon County Circuit Court for a final
decision on the merits. The state could also appeal the appellate court’s
decision dismissing his TRO appeal to the Illinois State Supreme Court.
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The plaintiffs are arguing that, under Illinois
law, students and teachers cannot be required to wear masks or be
excluded from school premises for “close contact” without either 1)
their consent and/or 2) a full evidentiary hearing and court order
that are required under the Illinois Department of Public Health
Act, i.e., due process.
As Judge Grischow noted in the TRO, the plaintiffs were not seeking
to dismantle any order related to masking, vaccination or testing
policies – but only sought that their rights of due process as
guaranteed by Illinois law be provided should they object to those
requirements, which are deemed forms of “quarantine” under Illinois
law.
She also noted the state had argued, “the Governor has unlimited
authority to do whatever is necessary.”
As of Feb. 14, the plaintiffs’ attorney indicated over 550 school
districts around the state had gone “fully masks optional” since the
TRO was entered. |
