Village’s lawsuit dealt a setback
Motion seeking temporary restraining order challenging COVID-19 restrictions denied
Orland Park elected officials have been dealt a serious setback in a lawsuit filed in June challenging Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s restrictions put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A federal judge denied a motion by the village seeking a temporary restraining order as well as a preliminary injunction to overturn a series of executive orders issued by the governor.
The ruling, spelled out in an Aug. 1 opinion, doesn’t end the lawsuit, but U.S. District Court Judge Andrea Wood clearly indicated the village’s odds of ultimately being successful were very slim.
Filed June 16 in federal court in Chicago, the lawsuit alleges the state-imposed restrictions violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution and that Pritzker overstepped his authority.
The motion for the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction was filed the following day.
Apart from the village, other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include two village residents and the co-owner of an Orland Park business, The Brass Tap.
Wood told attorneys for the village and Pritzker during a conference call July 29 that she was denying Orland Park’s motion, according to court records.
A status conference has been scheduled for Sept. 29.
Wood ruled the village and other plaintiffs failed to show they have been unduly harmed by the governor’s order and would have “a negligible likelihood of success” in pressing their claims.
The lawsuit argues, in part, that Pritzker had “failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that public health is significantly endangered without” restrictions on businesses and residents.
The complaint also contends that not all businesses were treated equally as far as
restrictions, in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, and businesses and residents were denied due process under the Fifth Amendment.
The judge said that the restrictions “undoubtedly have a real and substantial relationship to preventing the spread” of the virus, and the plaintiffs failed to show the executive orders had seriously impaired their rights to work, travel or freedom of association.
Wood pointed out that even initial curbs still permitted socially distant gatherings outside in groups of 10 or less.
The lawsuit alleged that some restrictions fell heavier on certain businesses than others, such as restaurants and bars initially not being allowed to have customers inside, while grocery stores were viewed as essential businesses.
The judge wrote that “eating at a restaurant or drinking at a bar is a luxury compared to buying food and other household essentials at a grocery store,” and that restaurants were allowed to continue serving customers through carryout and delivery options.
As far as whether the governor overstepped his authority with the restrictions, Wood wrote that the governor “has sweeping powers in the event a disaster strikes all or part” of the state, and even if he did not properly interpret the law it would not necessarily render his actions beyond his legal authority.”
Wood wrote the protective measures imposed since mid-March “have no apparent nefarious ulterior motive to restrain individual rights,” but that granting the request for preliminary injunction “would do extraordinary damage” to the state’s efforts to try to curb the spread of COVID-19.
At Monday’s Village Board meeting, Trustee Dan
Calandriello summarized the judge’s ruling and scoffed that village taxpayers had spent about $66,000 “on getting laughed (at) by the judge.”
On the governor’s pending motion to dismiss the lawsuit, attorneys for the plaintiffs have until Sept. 2 to respond, with the state’s response due by Sept. 16.
Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and some trustees have, over the past several weeks, been critical of the pace of reopening the state economy, with the village even putting forward its own roadmap to restart the local economy.
In a video message Tuesday posted at village’s website, Pekau said that local metrics as far as new cases and hospitalization rates showed village businesses could fully reopen, under the village’s plan, but that some businesses are taking customer preferences into consideration and holding off on returning to prepandemic conditions.