Landers v. Pritzker
| Decision Date | 16 November 2020 |
| Docket Number | NO. 4-20-0356,4-20-0356 |
| Parties | MARK LANDERS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Logan County; BRIAN VONDERHAAR, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Adams County; TIMOTHY BROWN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Alexander County; JAMES LEITSCHUH, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Bond County; DAVID ERNEST, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Boone County; KARL H. GROESCH, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Brown County; RYAN KLOEPPING; in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Carroll County; DEVRON OHRN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Cass County; DUSTIN HEUERMAN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Champaign County; ANDY MYERS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Clay County; DOUG MAUE, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Clinton County; JAMES RANKIN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Coles County; THOMAS J. DART, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Cook County; WILLIAM RUTAN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Crawford County; STEVE MAROON, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Cumberland County; ROGER SCOTT, is His Official Capacity as Sheriff of De Kalb County; MIKE WALKER, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of De Witt County; JOSHUA BLACKWELL, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Douglas County; DARBY BOEWE, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Edwards County; DAVID J. MAHON, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Effingham County; MARK DORAN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Ford County; DAVID BARTONI, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Franklin County; JEFF STANDARD, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Fulton County; SHANNON BRADLEY, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Gallatin County; ROB McMILLEN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Greene County; KEN BRINLEY, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Grundy County; DEREK HAGEN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Iroquois County; JEFFREY D. BULLARD, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Jefferson County; MICHAL RINGHAUSEN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Jersey County; KEVIN TURNER, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Jo Daviess County; MICHAEL DOWNEY, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Kankakee County; DWIGHT BAIRD, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Kendall County; JOHN IDLEBURG, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Lake County; TOM TEMPLETON, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of La Salle County; RUSSELL ADAMS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Lawrence County; JOHN SIMONTON, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Lee County; TONY CHILDRESS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Livingston County; ANTONIO D. BROWN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Macon County; SHAWN KAHL, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Macoupin County; JOHN D. LAKIN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Madison County; RICH STEVENSON, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Marion County; CHAD KAYLOR, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Massac County; NICK PETITGOUT, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of McDonough County; WILLIAM PRIM, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of McHenry County; JON SANDAGE, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of McLean County; MARK OLLER, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Menard County; DUSTIN TERRILL, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Mercer County; NEAL ROHLFING, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Monroe County; CHRIS SIMS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Moultrie County; BRIAN VANVICKLE, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Ogle County; BRIAN ASBELL, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Peoria County; STEVEN E. BAREIS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Perry County; DAVID HUNT, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Piatt County; DAVID GREENWOOD, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Pike County; RANDY KERN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Pulaski County; SHANNON L. WOLFF, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Randolph County; ANDREW HIRES, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Richland County; GERALD BUSTOS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Rock Island County; J. WHIPPER JOHNSON, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Saline County; JACK CAMPBELL, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Sangamon County; BILL REDSHAW, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Schuyler County; TOM EDDINGER, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Scott County; DAVID SNYDERS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Stephenson County; JEFF LOWER, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Tazewell County; SCOTT HARVEL, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Union County; PAT HARTSHORN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Vermilion County; J. DEREK MORGAN, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Wabash County; MARTIN EDWARDS, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Warren County; DOUG MAIER, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of White County; JOHN BOOKER, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Whiteside County; MIKE KELLEY, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Will County; BENNIE VICK, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Williamson County; MATT SMITH, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Woodford County; on Behalf of Themselves and All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. J.B. PRITZKER, in His Official Capacity as Governor of the State of Illinois; ROB JEFFREYS, in His Official Capacity as Acting Director of Corrections; GLEN AUSTIN, in His Official Capacity as Warden of Graham Correctional Center; DAVID GOMEZ, in His Official Capacity as Warden of Stateville Correctional Center; TERI KENNEDY, in Her Official Capacity as Warden of Logan Correctional Center; and ANTHONY WILLS, in His Official Capacity as Warden of Menard Correctional Center, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
NOTICE
This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from Circuit Court of Logan County
Honorable Jonathan C. Wright, Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE HOLDER WHITE delivered the judgment of the court.
¶ 1 Held: The appellate court vacated the circuit court's judgment granting the preliminary injunction and remanded for further proceedings.
¶ 2 In July 2020, plaintiffs, Illinois county sheriffs, filed an amended complaint seeking a writ of mandamus against defendants, state officials sued in their official capacities, to compel the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) to accept all transfers of prisoners to its custody pursuant to several provisions of the Unified Code of Corrections (Code) (730 ILCS 5/3-2-2, 3-2-5, 3-8-1, 5-8-5, 5-8-6 (West 2018)). Plaintiffs also filed a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction requiring defendants to accept inmates to DOC pursuant to the Code. Plaintiffs contended the Governor, through Executive Order 2020-13, lacked the discretionary authority to limit transfers of convicted offenders during a public health crisis. Subsequently, defendants responded to plaintiffs' motions stating, in relevant part, plaintiffs failed to establish a prima facie case for a preliminary injunction where the Governor acted within his authority under the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act (Act) (20 ILCS 3305/7 (West 2018)). Specifically, defendants pointed to Executive Order 2020-50, which rescinded Executive Order 2020-13 and required DOC to resume accepting transfers from county jails, subject to an intake process designed to ensure health and safety of transferees and DOC staff.
¶ 3 In August 2020, the circuit court entered a preliminary injunction requiring DOC to immediately begin accepting transfers of "all inmates" who would normally be sent to DOC pursuant to the Code, without including any protocols to prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Defendants filed a notice of interlocutory appeal, challenging the preliminary injunction.
¶ 4 On appeal, defendants argue (1) this court should vacate the preliminary injunction requiring DOC to accept all transfers of inmates from all county jails in Illinois without regard for the health screening measures put in place by the Governor and DOC because(a) the circuit court committed legal error regarding the Governor's emergency powers under the Act, (b) plaintiffs failed to show that they would suffer irreparable injury without an injunction, and (c) the balance of hardships weighed heavily against the injunction and (2) in the alternative, the circuit court's statewide injunction is overbroad. We vacate and remand for further proceedings.
¶ 7 On March 9, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker declared the entire state of Illinois a disaster area in response to the outbreak of COVID-19, pursuant to section 7 of the Act (20 ILCS 3305/7 (West 2018)). Ill. Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation No. 2020-38, 44 Ill. Reg. 4744 (Mar. 9, 2020). "COVID-19 is a novel severe acute respiratory illness that can spread among people through respiratory transmission and present with symptoms similar to those of influenza[.]" Ill. Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation No. 2020-38, 44 Ill. Reg. 4744, 4745 (Mar. 9, 2020). The Governor issued subsequent proclamations extending the statewide disaster proclamation through August 23, 2020. Ill. Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation No. 2020-59, 44 Ill. Reg. 14396 (Aug. 21, 2020).
¶ 8 On March 26, 2020, the Governor issued Executive Order 2020-13, which suspended all transfers of individuals in Illinois county jails to DOC custody, with exceptions to be developed at "the sole discretion of the Director of the [DOC]." Ill. Exec. Order No. 2020-13, 44 Ill. Reg. 5959, 5961 (Mar. 26, 2020). In Executive Order 2020-13, the Governor stated "the [DOC] currently has a population of more than 37,000 male and female inmates in 28 facilities, the vast majority of whom, because of their close proximity and contact with each other in housing units and dining halls, are especially vulnerable...
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