A lawsuit challenging Gov. JB Pritzker’s authority to shut down high school sports will land in front of a Springfield judge, as desired by Pritzker, over objections from both the parents who filed the lawsuit, and of Sangamon County’s chief judge, who insinuated Pritzker was merely “judge shopping.”
On Feb. 22, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a so-called supervisory order, directing the judges in the Sangamon County Circuit Court to take jurisdiction of the lawsuit that has bounced between courts since it was filed two months ago.
In late December, a group of parents filed suit in LaSalle County Circuit Court, in north central Illinois. In the lawsuit, the parents claim their teen children have suffered under Pritzker’s orders, which barred nearly all high school sports last fall and through a large portion of the winter, in the name of fighting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sangamon County Chief Judge John Madonia
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The parents have been represented in the action by attorney Laura Grochocki, of Chicago.
One of the parents, identified as Lisa Moore, of Grundy County, asserts in the lawsuit that her son, a track and field athlete, who was class president, a drum major, and captain of the cross country team, among other activities at Seneca High School in LaSalle County, committed suicide in October, after Pritzker shut down high school sports for the fall season.
The lawsuit blamed Pritzker and his restrictions for mental and emotional distress that allegedly led to the suicide.
Other parents claimed in the lawsuit that their children had fallen into depression, developed anger issues, and refused to leave their houses, as a result of the effects they suffered following the governor’s shutdown orders.
They also claim the shutdown orders have cost students the opportunity to secure college athletic scholarships.
The lawsuit alleges Pritzker violated the high school athletes’ equal protection rights by shutting down high school sports over COVID, while allowing college and professional sports to be played, albeit before empty stadiums.
They are seeking a court order barring Pritzker from implementing the COVID-related restrictions on high school sports.
This winter, as COVID infection activity has waned, Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health have also eased high school sports restrictions, allowing such sports as basketball to resume, with precautions, and clearing the way for football and others to be played later this spring.
Soon after the lawsuit was filed, a LaSalle County judge granted Pritzker’s request to transfer the case to Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow, in Springfield. Grischow has been assigned by the Illinois Supreme Court to handle virtually every lawsuit challenging Pritzker’s COVID-related restrictions.
In the weeks since, Grischow has dismissed many of those cases, citing a decision from the an Illinois appeals court, which explicitly backed Pritzker’s claims to broad emergency powers to fight the pandemic.
When the high school sports case was sent to Sangamon County court, Judge Madonia prevented the case from being docketed there, and sent it back to LaSalle County. Madonia challenged the transfer order, saying, under the law, chief judges can decline jurisdiction of cases improperly decided on the basis of so-called inconvenient forums.
While the LaSalle County judge had backed Pritzker’s claims that the case was best heard in Springfield, Madonia said he believed the transfer amounted to little more than an attempt by Pritzker to place the case in front of a friendlier court, a tactic known as “judge shopping” or “venue shopping.”
“Because Sangamon County courts have consistently made rulings that are favorable to the State of Illinois, in previous litigation challenging governmental restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID-19, concern has been sufficiently established for this court to believe that Defendant’s (Pritzker’s) motion to change venue to Sangamon County is a not-so-veiled disguise to shop for a friendly forum to decide another COVID dispute involving State of Illinois activity restrictions that have been implemented in response to the continued spread of the coronavirus,” Madonia wrote in his Jan. 25 order.
Pritzker, through Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, then petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court to override Judge Madonia. Pritzker’s team argued Madonia had overstepped his authority, saying Madonia had no power “to interrupt the transfer.”
In response, the parent plaintiffs asked the state Supreme Court to side with Madonia, and allow the case to move forward in LaSalle County.
The state Supreme Court, however, backed Pritzker, and ordered the case transferred to Sangamon County, likely to Judge Grischow.
The court did not offer any additional opinion or thoughts on the matter.
In response, the group of parents who are suing the governor issued the following statement, emailed through Grochocki, their attorney:
“We are disappointed that the Illinois Supreme Court has ignored the forum-shopping concerns of Chief Judge Madonia in Sangamon County and is directing him to accept jurisdiction in this case. Judge Madonia is right to be concerned about Gov. Pritzker's blatant forum-shopping.
“The children of Illinois, who have been harmed by the State of Ilinois' unconstitutional mandates deserve a fair, unbiased, and transparent process and the Court did not provide any legal reasoning for its decision. This case - least of all - should not be about politics. It should be about the lives of our kids.”