Dupage Policy Journal

Gov. J.B. Pritzker faces yet another lawsuit challenging the legality of his stay-at-home directives under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act (IEMA).

Earlier this week, the Naperville Park District filed an action in DuPage County Circuit Court stating that the IEMA does not grant the governor supreme power over local governments in Illinois.

Nothing in the Act gives the Governor the authority “to amend, alter, or displace the statutory jurisdiction of a local unit of government,” the lawsuit contends

In asserting its own authority, the Park District announced that on June 1 it will open several activities including disc golf, skate parks and sports courts.

The legal filing also cites an May 11 email from Naperville’s Chief of Police, Robert Marshall, to the Chairman of Edgewood Clinical Services: 

“Naperville has experienced a 6.48% increase in domestic disturbance calls and a 27.74% increase in domestic violence calls (as measured January through April compared to January through April, 2019)."

“The next day,” the lawsuit stated, “ABC News 7 reported that neighboring Kane County is reporting a 139% increase in the number of juvenile abuse and neglect cases reported in March and April of this year compared to the same time last year.”

What the lawsuit does not say, and could, according to the Edgar County Watchdog’s (ECW), is that the governor is also violating a time limit under the Act. ECW says the governor’s powers ran out weeks ago.

“We do not believe the Governor’s emergency powers are valid beyond the 30-day period just as the law states,” ECW posted on its website Illinois Leaks. “In support of that is current law, Attorney General Opinion, history, legal acceptance by a Chief Legal Counsel for IDPH, judges statements, Appellate Prosecutors Office Deputy Directors legal opinion, National Governors Association, and May 11, 2020, Executive Summary on Governor powers.”