Governors Pritzker’s Executive Orders Void: What does that mean?

Illinois (ECWd) –

What does yesterday’s Court Order mean?  In short, the rule of law prevails.

Yesterday’s ruling from the Circuit Court in Clay County has created a flurry of misinformation across the state, from the Governor’s own people misrepresenting the facts of the law, to social media knock-down drag-out arguments over people’s health being destroyed by such an order.

It’s not difficult to understand where we stand today if you simply read the Court’s Order, our laws, case law, and the actual evidence presented in court. It should be noted, the Governor provided zero evidence of a Pandemic or scientific facts to support their arguments.

Executive Orders.

Item 3c of the Court Order states: “The Court declares any executive orders in effect after April 08, 2020, relating to COVID-19, and finding their authority under the emergency powers of Section 7 of the IEMAA are void ab initio.”

Void ab initio is Latin for “void from the beginning”.  With that definition, any executive orders in effect after April 08, 2020, related to COVID-19, are void.  This is where the social media arguments became off the charts stupid.  Many have tried to imply now Illinois is going to have spikes in COVID-19 cases, and basically taking the sky is falling position. These are the same people supporting every step of the Governor’s actions while ignoring his first step in this Pandemic.

According to reporting on Capital Fax, Emily Bittner at the governor’s office said “Governor Pritzker will continue to prioritize Illinoisans’ health and safety first,…”.

I wonder if she realizes that the Governor’s prioritization did not put Illinoisans’ health and safety first?

The record proves the Governor’s first action had nothing to do with the Pandemic.  Rather than addressing the health and safety of Illinoisans’, Pritzker’s first action was to address marijuana laws which we covered in this article.  We urge everyone to read that article to better understand the Governor’s family ties to that industry, which points to his first prioritization being more aligned with family business than health and safety of Illinoisans’.

While numerous people, including a reported CNN reporter, have tried to imply the Judge’s order was simply a bias position from a Judge that does not like the Governor, these people have either ignored or are not aware of what other state legal officials have said about the Governor’s limited powers in the Emergency Management Agency Act.  We broke those stories here and here.  What happened yesterday in the Judge’s ruling is consistent with the legal analysis from the Department of Justice, Appellate Prosecutor Deputy Director and former Attorney General Opinions Bureau.

Other propaganda being pushed from the Governor’s people is pathetic as rather than recognizing the law, misinformation is their chosen path.

Emily Bittner at the governor’s office – “Every other court – both state and federal – that has considered these exact issues has agreed with the administration that executive orders protecting Illinoisans’ health and safety are well within the governor’s constitutional authority. This includes a federal court decision earlier today. Governor Pritzker will continue to prioritize Illinoisans’ health and safety first, and the people of Illinois have taken extraordinary care to follow health experts’ advice, which is why our state has the lowest positivity rate in the Midwest. While this one county circuit court has gone a different direction from all of the other cases, the administration will ultimately seek to appeal this ruling, and the Governor will continue to urge the people of Illinois to exercise constant vigilance and keep doing what has worked: wash your hands, watch your distance and wear your face covering.”

There is a huge difference between a Temporary Restraining Order ruling in those other courts and the Court Order issued yesterday.  Those referenced by the Governor’s mouthpiece were not heard on their merits and were not tied to Bailey’s Count III in his complaint, which involved the unconstitutional power given in the Emergency Management Agency Act.  The Court Order made it clear.

4) Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment as to Count III is granted as follows:

a)The Court declares Defendant had no Illinois constitutional authority as Governor to restrict a citizen’s movement or activities and/or forcibly close business premises in EO 32;
b) The Court declares that none of the cited provisions of the IEMAA in EO 32 delegated Defendant any authority to restrict a citizen’s movement or activities and/or forcibly close business premises;
c) The Court declares the proper authority to restrict a citizen’s movement or activities and/or forcibly close their business due to any public health risks has been expressly delegated to the Department of Health under the Illinois Department of Public Health Act and the County Code;

Just as we said March 15th, 2020, the Illinois Department of Public Health is the only agency with limited powers to close a business.  We also pointed out that the Governor’s own people told him the same thing in their Executive Summary, which he ignored. We covered the Executive Summary issue in this article March 18th, 2020.

While many are so wrapped up in political posturing and engrossed in defending the indefensible, we pray more people would simply read the laws on the books, the case law that ties it all together, and maybe then they will better understand the Judge’s ruling yesterday was, in fact, consistent with it all.

As it stands from yesterday’s Court Order, the orders found in numerous Executive Orders issued after April 08, 2020 mean nothing now.  If you are being told otherwise by a local government or state official, please let us know so that we can address it in a future article.

Stay tuned for more information on the impact of yesterday’s Court Order and the effect it will have on future local government meetings.