For what seemed like an eternity, but probably just for the past year or so, infamous covid attorney Thomas DeVore has been citing the first paragraph of Section 2 of the Illinois Department of Public Health Act to claim that only the Illinois Department of Public Health has the power to quarantine or isolate Illinoisans.
And, indeed, the statute clearly states at the top of Section 2, that IDPH has “supreme authority in matters of quarantine and isolation.” Those powers come with some strong individual consent and due process checks and balances, including the right to judicial review.
