Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders shuttering non-essential businesses and workplaces indefinitely is unconstitutional, three business owners and two county officials claim in a lawsuit, because the state has not provided monetary compensation, according to a report from SJ-R.com.
Both the U.S. and Illinois constitutions provide that private property cannot be confiscated for public use “without just compensation.” Illinois’ Constitution adds that property also cannot be damaged.
“The governor and the state have seized without compensation the property and businesses and the livelihoods of individuals across the state, forcing indefinite closures and layoffs of thousands of people,” according to the lawsuit.
They are asking a judge to order the state to pay all “similarly situated persons, companies and entities … just compensation.”
Pritzker issued orders closing businesses on March 20, April 1 and April 30. In the filing, the residents are not challenging the governor’s authority to take those actions, as has been the case in lawsuits filed by two Republican lawmakers and others.
