Several Illinois health organizations filed a brief in support of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 executive orders in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce’s suit seeking declaratory judgment and injunctive relief.
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association, Illinois State Medical Society, American Nurses Association-Illinois and Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing filed an Amici Curiae brief in support of Pritzker on May 29 through attorneys Hal Morris, Joe Ourth and Elizabeth Thompson of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr in Chicago.
“This matter presents a request that, if granted, will substantially and negatively impact Illinois residents’ access to healthcare and endanger the health of Illinois citizens,” Morris wrote.
Madison County Circuit Judge Christopher Threlkeld took the Chamber’s motion for a temporary restraining order under advisement at a May 29 hearing.
According to the amicus brief, more than 100,000 people have died due to COVID-19 throughout the country as of May 27. Specifically, the Illinois Department of Health (IDPH) reported 114,306 positive cases with a death toll of 5,083.
“Because of the seriousness of COVID-19 and the lack of sufficient testing, a vaccine, or recognized therapeutic cure, the pandemic continues to place undue strain on Illinois hospitals, health systems, physicians, registered nurses, and advanced practice registered nurses, even as the state moves toward reopening. The impact on Illinois hospitals and healthcare workers is both economic and negatively affects their ability to provide healthcare,” Morris wrote.
The amici argue that Pritzker issued the executive order at issue with the assistance of medical experts, data, and science-based evidence.
“The Governor’s executive orders, which are consistent with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC), have undoubtedly helped to ‘flatten the curve.’ However, a TRO or other injunction enjoining their enforcement or abandoning the measured, science-based plan to reopen Illinois will increase the risk to all Illinoisans and the stress on already burdened Illinois hospitals, physicians, registered nurses, and advanced practice registered nurses,” Morris wrote.
The amici argue that an injunctive order exempting businesses from the executive orders would result in an increase in person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 “as individuals travel and leave one area or county and go to another.”
The amici “all have specific interest in this matter because any erosion of the Governor’s executive orders concerning COVID-19, especially those relating to requirements for Illinois residents to stay at home and non-essential businesses to limit in-person operations, would undo the positive gains made in fighting the pandemic and place a disproportionate and potentially life-threatening burden on Amici and their members, as well as Illinoisans that may become infected from patrons of plaintiff’s members,” Morris wrote.
Threlkeld also took the Illinois Attorney General’s motion to transfer under advisement.
Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Thomas John Verticchio argued on behalf of Pritzker that the case should be transferred to Sangamon County because that’s where the action “sprang into existence.”
The Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce, which has 500 members mostly consisting of private business entities, filed its complaint on May 22 through attorneys Thomas DeVore and Erik Hyann of Silver Lake Group Ltd. in Greenville.
They argue that many of the members “have seen their private business premises forced closed as they were deemed non-essential” by Pritzker’s April 30 executive order.
The lawsuit seeks an order finding Pritzker’s orders null and void.
“The Chamber has a right to insist Pritzker not engage in a fiction designed to circumvent express limitations on his authority imposed by the legislature,” the suit states.
The suit alleges Pritzker’s powers under state emergency management law expired after 30 days. It also challenges Pritzker’s assertion of authority under Illinois public health law, which indicates that the Department of Public Health has supreme authority in matters of quarantine and isolation.
“The department has explicitly delegated its authority to order isolation, quarantine and closure to certified local health departments,” the suit states.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 20-MR-550