A group of residents and business owners from Chicago’s suburbs and downstate Illinois are among the latest to step into court to challenge the power of Gov. JB Pritzker to shut down the state in response to COVID-19, asserting the governor’s stay at home orders and other restrictions amounted to an unconstitutional uncompensated government seizure of property and an assault upon the constitutional rights of residents throughout the state.
On June 15, attorneys John C. Kreamer and Joseph E. Urani, of the Kreamer Law Group LLC, of Naperville, filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, in Springfield, against Pritzker, on behalf of 12 named individuals and business owners.
The lawsuit was also filed on behalf of “all … similarly situated businesses and Illinois Citizens.”
“By his most recent actions and decrees, Defendant Pritzker would have this State, and Honorable Court believe that coronavirus attacks and infects only certain businesses and individuals attempting to practice and defend their Constitutional protections while others that Defendant Pritzker aligns himself with politically and whom he protests and marches with, are immune from the virus,” the complaint said.
“Defendant Pritzker’s acts of selective extra-Constitutional decrees and view-point (sic) Constitutional discrimination cannot be allowed to stand where he picks Constitutional winners like marijuana dispensaries legally conducting business in Illinois for less than six months and Antifa protestors while he throws to the curb churches, places of worship, people of faith and honest, hard-working small business owners – the Governor’s Constitutional losers.”
Named plaintiffs include: Dawn Nowlin, of McLean County, owner of Houdini’s Spirits, in LeRoy; Kara Boldt, of Waterman, in DeKalb County; Rachel Olivares, of Naperville; April Schweitzer, of Champaign; Melissa Sharma, of Peoria Heights; Jesse Kadera, of Antioch; Peter Ptak, of Lisle; James Shipley, of Tolomo, in Champaign County; Elaine Conforti, of Palatine, owner of In Style Hair Studio; Cheryl Thompson, of Cobden, in Union County, owner of Bonofide Cleaning LLC; Caroline Szwajlik, of Burr Ridge, owner of Karen’s Emergency Services; and Quinton Meister, of Naperville.
The lawsuit takes aim at nearly every restriction Pritzker has slapped on statewide in the name of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The governor has said the restrictions were necessary to slow the spread of the disease – to “flatten the curve” and prevent Illinois’ health and hospital systems from being overwhelmed – and to save lives.
The governor and his allies have pointed to seemingly ever-declining COVID-19 cases in Illinois as proof Pritzker’s actions succeeded.
However, in the new lawsuit, the plaintiffs assert Pritkzer’s actions also trampled constitutional rights and severely damaged the Illinois economy.
The lawsuit mirrors in many aspects the legal challenges that came before, such as those filed by Republican state lawmakers, and others brought by businesses and churches across the state.
The lawsuits all assert Pritzker overstepped the bounds of his authority, established either in state emergency management law, or in the U.S. and Illinois constitutions.
In the sprawling new lawsuit, plaintiffs challenge the governor’s powers to restrict church worship services and religious activities, and to close businesses and shut down activities the governor has deemed “non-essential” amid the pandemic. While the governor eased many of those restrictions in late May, notably allowing many businesses to reopen with restrictions and replacing rules against religious gatherings with public health “guidelines,” the plaintiffs said the governor’s actions then and now “discriminate against the religious practice, speech, and assembly” rights of religious adherents.
They noted the governor not only looked the other way when tens of thousands of anti-racism protestors took to the streets in recent weeks to exercise their constitutional rights to demonstrate, but also joined them himself, allegedly violating his own recommendations to the people of Illinois on how to conduct themselves amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He fails to establish how the law can draw a distinction based on the content and message of the protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the content and message of churches and places of worship…” the complaint said.
“He fails to establish how the law can draw a distinction based on the unlimited numbers of people allowed to gather for the protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, and the severely limited number of people allowed to gather in churches, restaurants, beaches, parks, back yards, and all other places and ‘non-essential’ businesses.
“He fails to establish how there is a compelling and legitimate state interest when the very rules he commanded are not followed by him where he attends political protests and marches of hundreds of people many of whom did not wear masks, marches side by side with other protestors, less than 6 feet apart all while carrying a banner with others without gloves…”
In addition to charging the governor with violating First Amendment rights, the lawsuit also asserts Pritzker violated the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the equivalent section of the Illinois state constitution, which guarantees rights to private property and forbids the government from seizing property without cause and compensation.
In this instance, the plaintiffs assert Pritzker’s orders shut down thousands of businesses statewide, eliminating millions of jobs and putting millions of Illinoisans out of business and out of work.
“The Plaintiffs stand on the precipice of economic collapse as a direct result of the actions taken by Governor Pritzker,” the complaint said.
They noted that during the COVID-19 shutdown period millions of black, Latino and women workers and business owners have been hit especially hard by the pandemic-fueled restrictions.
“At the same time, State and Federal government officials, including the Governor, Judges, and Legislators continue to collect paychecks, health insurance, and retirement benefits, all paid for by the taxpayers whose rights have been trampled and are prohibited from providing for their families,” the lawsuit said.
They asserted the governor’s actions amounted to an illegal taking of their property.
“Despite issuing the Executive Orders for a public purpose, (Pritzker) did not provide compensation for those who suffered substantial – and perhaps total – diminution of value in their property interest as a result,” the lawsuit said.
They noted the governor has repeatedly threatened business owners who resist his orders with fines, penalties and loss of government funds and assistance.
The plaintiffs are seeking court orders declaring Pritzker exceeded his authority, and blocking Pritzker from continuing to enforce his orders. They are also asking the court to order the state to provide “just compensation” to be paid to business owners and other Illinoisans put out of work as a result of Pritzker’s orders.