CHICAGO — Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker fully embraced his role in guiding the state through the coronavirus pandemic when he launched his reelection campaign in July, just a month after he had lifted nearly all restrictions as the vaccination effort gained steam and the state had fully reopened.
Within weeks, though, he rolled out another mask mandate for schools as the state lost ground to the delta variant. Now, two adverse court opinions have stymied Pritzker’s efforts to continue masking requirements at schools and renewed questions over the governor’s legal authority amid pandemic weariness and parent rebellion that has droned on for months.
As a result of a lawsuit filed on behalf of parents, Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on Feb. 4 granted the request for a temporary restraining order on the governor’s executive orders on masking and quarantining for schools named in the court action, finding that the measures are beyond the governor’s authority and deprive students of due process. The Illinois attorney general’s office quickly filed an appeal.
