Illinois’ highest court on Tuesday moved Rep. Darren Bailey’s ongoing lawsuit to Sangamon County, effectively ending a Clay County court’s role in the case regarding the limits of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s authority to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Bailey, a Republican from Xenia, asked Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney to hold the governor in jail until he repealed orders allowing K-12 schools to hold in-person classes, permitting the Department of Corrections to accept inmate transfers from county jails and reinstating almost 30 previously announced decrees.
A hearing that was scheduled for Friday in Clay County would have required Pritzker to appear in court with representatives from the attorney general’s office as well as Bailey’s lawyer.
In an order issued Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court effectively halted that hearing when it ruled no further proceedings could be held in Bailey’s lawsuit until it decided whether to take control of the case. Hours later, the court also ordered the lawsuit be moved to a circuit court in Sangamon County to be combined with related cases that are pending there.
The justices’ decision only partially fulfilled a request the attorney general’s office made Monday. The state wanted the Supreme Court to halt the contempt hearing in Clay County and take over the case from McHaney.
