Pritzker Takes Aim at Judge Who Ruled Against School Mask Mandate
Governor JB Pritzker Monday criticized a Sangamon County judge who granted a Temporary Restraining Order against the Governor’s mask mandate in schools.
Governor JB Pritzker had pointed words Monday for a Sangamon County judge that put a temporary hold on his mask mandate in schools across the state.
Speaking at an unrelated event in Chicago Monday, Pritzker called the judge’s ruling granting a Temporary Restraining Order against the mask mandate “poor legal reasoning.”
“Judge Raylene Grischow’s ruling is out of step with the vast majority of legal analysis in Illinois and across the nation,” Pritzker said. “Most importantly, it constrains the ability of the named school districts to maintain safe, in-person learning requirements, as if kids need a minute more of remote learning.”
Across the state Monday, there was confusion on varying rules from school to school on the wearing of masks.
“The judge’s decision cultivates chaos for parents, families, teachers, and school administrators across the state,” Pritzker said.
But, he encouraged school districts not specifically named in the suit Grischow ruled on to continue following the mask mandate.
“The Illinois schools that have not been named as a defendant in the lawsuit should continue to follow the prescribed public health protocols which have proven to reduce school exclusion rates and have made it possible for our kids to continue learning safely in person.”
The attorney who challenged the mandate, Thomas DeVore of Greenville, said in a video statement Monday some 250 school districts had chosen to stop requiring masks.
“The judge has created a tremendous amount of confusion, even in the way she wrote her opinion, so that has been problematic,” Pritzker said. “We want our appeal to be heard as soon as possible to rid ourselves of the fog of a, frankly, not good decision by the Sangamon County Court.”
Emergency appeals were filed with the Fourth District Appellate Court Monday, the Attorney General’s office confirmed. There is no time frame for when a decision could be made on reversing the circuit court decision.
In a post on Facebook Monday, DeVore said school districts are expressing the will of the public.
“Your districts made these choices today on their own volition, executive order be damned,” DeVore, who is also running for Appellate Judge in southern Illinois, wrote, “This shows you what the local school districts across this state think of his authoritarian rule. The districts just needed a little encouragement. At this point there is no reason whatsoever for them to go back to mask required policies for any reason whatsoever, regardless of whether there is a TRO or not. The TRO gave that burst of momentum needed to put an end to this madness.”
But, at a separate event in southern Illinois Monday, Pritzker said he believed some school districts would return to remote learning as a result of the order.
“The judge’s decision has thrown some chaos on top of what is already challenging schools,” Pritzker said. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid that one of the results of the decision she made is you’ll have schools that actually go remote as a result of people taking their masks off and having higher transmission rates.”
Other states, meanwhile, like New Jersey and California, have announced an end to their mask mandates. Pritzker says hospitalizations will be the key metric to remove the statewide mask order, but didn’t give specific target numbers.
“Do you want non-scientists, non-doctors to make decisions that will effect, seriously, the health and lives of the people of Illinois? Yes, of course, the ultimate decision is mine, but you want me listening to the best experts we have, and I do, and it includes our Department of Public Health.”
DeVore, in his video statement Monday, called Pritzker a “narcissist” who is “gaslighting” the public and later called Pritzker a “liar.”
“It’s all manipulation,” DeVore said. “Overwhelmingly, most schools have only done these [mitigations] because he was mandating them, coercing them, intimidating them, and threatening them.”
