The Department of Justice on Friday intervened in an Illinois case that has the potential to invalidate the state’s stay-at-home order implemented by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker — while also writing to the mayor of Los Angeles to warn that a lengthy lockdown could be “arbitrary and unlawful.”
The DOJ filed a statement of interest in support of a lawsuit by state lawmaker Rep. Darren Bailey, who has sought to challenge Pritzker’s stay-at-home restrictions — challenging whether he can keep the restrictions in place longer than the 30 days allowed by state law.
“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor of Illinois has, over the past two months, sought to rely on authority under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act to impose sweeping limitations on nearly all aspects of life for citizens of Illinois, significantly impairing in some instances their ability to maintain their economic livelihoods,” the agency said in a statement.
Continuing, the DOJ said: “According to the lawsuit, the Governor’s actions are not authorized by state law, as they extend beyond the 30-day time period imposed by the Illinois legislature for the Governor’s exercise of emergency powers granted under the Act.”
Bailey last month won a lawsuit against the stay-at-home order, seeking to prevent the governor “from taking any action … which orders Darren Bailey to stay at home, or at his place of residence, as well as limiting his ability to travel within the state…” – READ MORE
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