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Thomas DeVore, an attorney who has filed several legal challenges against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pandemic-related executive orders, addresses a crowd Monday that included several west-central Illinois bar and restaurant owners. DeVore said Pritzker’s executive orders limiting indoor dining are not enforceable.
lessPhoto: Marco Cartolano | Journal-CourierThomas DeVore, an attorney who has filed several legal challenges against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pandemic-related executive orders, addresses a crowd Monday that included several west-central Illinois bar and
... more
Thomas DeVore, an attorney who has filed several legal challenges against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pandemic-related executive orders, addresses a crowd Monday that included several west-central Illinois bar and restaurant owners. DeVore said Pritzker’s executive orders limiting indoor dining are not enforceable.
lessThomas DeVore, an attorney who has filed several legal challenges against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pandemic-related executive orders, addresses a crowd Monday that included several west-central Illinois bar and
... moreAn attorney with several clients who are pushing back against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders relating to COVID-19 believes the state lacks the legal ability to close indoor dining for restaurants and bars.
Thomas DeVore, an attorney with Highland-based law firm Silver Lake Group, addressed a crowd Monday at Bogart’s Banquet Hall that included several west-central Illinois bar and restaurant owners.
DeVore has brought forward several cases challenging Pritzker’s executive orders, which implement restrictions intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus. He represents more than 100 clients statewide who are concerned about facing penalties for not following the governor’s orders on indoor dining or other guidelines requiring the use of face masks or maintaining a 6-foot social distance.
DeVore also represents State Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia in his suit challenging Pritzker’s use of emergency powers. Several of DeVore’s lawsuits, including Bailey’s, have been consolidated before Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow.
DeVore told the crowd Monday that his main goal is to make sure business owners understand the rules in place so they can make decisions based on them. He said several officials in the state do not fully understand the rules and may apply them incorrectly.
“There are local and state officials who don’t understand the rules,” DeVore said. “That doesn’t make them bad people. That makes them human.”
The attorney said local health departments sometimes feel political pressure or receive calls from concerned citizens to be stricter on restaurants and bars that are not complying with state guidelines. Those departments then improperly use rules to enforce the guidelines.
DeVore gave examples of city and county health departments sending notices and warnings of closure to restaurants and bars for violating the restriction on indoor dining. He said he told his clients not to worry about the notices because the Illinois Department of Public Health’s August rule for closing non-compliant businesses does not pertain to indoor dining.
One example he gave was a citation issued to a Monroe County restaurant, Washy’s Saloon, for indoor dining. The county’s state’s attorney dismissed the citation, claiming that indoor dining was not included in the health department’s rule.
The Illinois Department of Public Health does not have the power to disregard the law, DeVore said. The state Legislature gave the health department the power only to make a business off limits to the public if the owner consents or if a court orders the closing.
To get a judge to order a closure, a local health department would need clear and convincing evidence that the establishment specifically had significant activity spreading a dangerous and infectious disease and there was no less restrictive means to protect public health, DeVore said.
“If the law says they have to do certain things within certain confines, they can’t create their own rules and just say, ‘Don’t worry about that I’ll just do what we think is best’,” DeVore said.
If health departments try to end indoor dining, DeVore said, the action proves they are unsure that social distancing and mask-wearing are an effective measure to stop the spread of the virus.
The attorney presented a chart he said was passed around in September to county health departments, showing that less than 1 in 10 COVID-19 outbreaks was related to bars and restaurants. DeVore said the state government emphasized bars and restaurants over home gatherings and workplaces because it was a realm where the state could put mitigations in place.
Jordan Abudayyeh, Pritzker’s press secretary, criticized DeVore’s legal challenges in an October statement to Illinois Center Square.
“Tom DeVore has spent a baffling amount of time during this pandemic fighting commonsense solutions backed by science that keep people healthy and safe,” Abudayyeh said.
On the same day that DeVore addressed the crowd in Jacksonville, Grischow ruled against another lawsuit DeVore brought forward, this one challenging Pritzker’s ability to mandate public health measures at schools. DeVore told Capitol News Illinois that he plans to appeal the decision to the 4th District Appellate Court.
DeVore told the crowd the court cases pertain to Pritzker’s ability to issue the executive orders and don’t impact whether they can keep their businesses open because the state can’t enforce an executive order. Instead, rules would need to be passed by state or local officials for them to be enforceable.
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November 18, 2020 at 03:44AM
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Attorney tells Jacksonville crowd that state cannot enforce dining restrictions - Jacksonville Journal-Courier
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