The Pritzker administration has asked the Illinois Supreme Court to send all of the cases challenging the governor’s school mask mandates, to courts in either Cook County or Springfield, rather than in the downstate counties in which most of the cases have been filed.
On Oct. 29, Illinois Atttorney General Kwame Raoul filed a motion with the state high court, on behalf of Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health. The petition asks the court to consolidate several different cases now pending in Sangamon County, Vermilion County, Macoupin County, Kendall County and Montgomery County, and combine them with one case pending in Cook County.
Raoul and Pritzker then ask the state Supreme Court to transfer the combined actions to a judge in Cook County.
If not Cook County, Raoul and Pritzker have asked the high court to send the cases to Sangamon County court in the state capitol of Springfield, where two of the lawsuits are pending.
The cases all challenge executive orders issued by Pritzker, “emergency rules” issued by the IDPH, and “guidance” to schools issued by the ISBE, in the name of slowing the spread of COVID-19.
Those orders and rules explicitly require school districts to compel all students to wear face coverings while at school.
The lawsuits seek orders declaring Pritzker and the state agencies lack the authority to order students to wear masks in school or exclude students from school over COVID concerns, or orders blocking school districts from enforcing Pritzker’s orders.
In the motion to transfer and consolidate, Raoul and Pritzker argue the similarities of the cases mean they should be heard by one judge, in one court, rather than multiple judges in different counties. They say to allow the cases to proceed as they are currently pending would “waste” judicial “resources,” and could result in “public confusion,” as different judges may hand down “conflicting rulings.”
Further, they argue Cook County is the correct destination for these cases because the majority of the students who might be affected by the decisions in these cases live in Cook County, and the majority of the school districts named as defendants in the cases are in Cook County.
“Litigating these issues in Cook County would therefore maximize convenience to the parties,” Pritzker and Raoul argue.
Allowing the cases to remain in the county courts in which they have been filed could result in lawsuits being heard in 53 counties, Raoul and Pritzker argue.
Alternatively, Raoul and Pritzker suggested the cases be sent to Sangamon County court, where the governor’s office is located, as well as the headquarters of ISBE and IDPH.
They further noted Sangamon County is the location of the earliest filed pending case, among the cases the state seeks to consolidate.
And they said Devore is also representing clients in litigation pending in Sangamon County.
The state Supreme Court has not yet taken action on the petition from Raoul and Pritzker.