State Defendants Appeal COVID-19 TRO to the Illinois Supreme Court

In the wake of last week’s Appellate Court ruling, Governor Pritzker and the other state defendants have taken their appeal of the February 4, 2022 TRO regarding school COVID-19 mitigation measures to the Illinois Supreme Court. On February 22, 2022, the state defendants filed a Petition for Leave to Appeal, asking the Supreme Court to overturn both the TRO and the Appellate Court’s order dismissing the appeal as moot. The state defendants also asked the Supreme Court to stay the TRO while the Supreme Court considers the appeal, stating that the TRO has precipitated “chaos” across the state.

In their Petition, the state defendants urge the Supreme Court to take up the matter, arguing that the TRO and the appellate court have caused a lack of clarity and noted that “school districts, parents, students, and staff across the State struggle to understand what is required of them going forward.”

The state defendants have asked the Supreme Court to expedite its consideration of the appeal. We do not yet know when the Supreme Court will act on the Petition for Leave to Appeal or motion to stay. We will continue to closely monitor the litigation and will provide additional updates as more information becomes available.

Our team of attorneys is available to assist school districts with targeted advice regarding this evolving situation. Please reach out directly to your Franczek contact or the authors of this post.