Last week, Governor JB Pritzker extended his state’s stay-at-home order through the end of May to help control the spread of the coronavirus. It was a move that didn’t please GOP Rep. Darren Bailey—and so Bailey sued. “Enough is enough!” Bailey said in a statement. “I filed this lawsuit on behalf of myself and my constituents who are ready to go back to work and resume a normal life.” Now, Bailey has emerged victorious, at least for the time being: NBC Chicago reports a judge has granted a restraining order to Bailey that exempts him from Pritzker’s order, a move the governor calls “an insult to all Illinoisans who have been lost during this COVID-19 crisis.” The judge’s decision means Bailey can roam free for now, but it’s not clear if or how it will ultimately affect other Illinois residents; others could follow his lead and file their own complaints.
The Northwest Herald reports that Bailey’s argument against the order hinged on it being a violation of his civil rights. He says the state’s Emergency Management Agency Act allows the governor to put in place such a disaster directive for 30 days only. As for Pritzker, “we are certainly going to act in a swift action to have this ruling overturned,” he said in his regular coronavirus news conference on Monday. He called Bailey’s defiance on the state mandate “a danger to millions of people who might get ill because of his recklessness.”
State Rep for the 109th district in Southern Illinois, Darren Bailey, responds to Governor Pritzker’s reaction to his successful lawsuit:
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