Church Sues To End Illinois Coronavirus Stay-At-Home Order
LENA, IL — A Stephenson County church is asking a federal judge to toss out Illinois' stay-at-home order as it prepares to reopen for services this weekend. Stephen Cassell, pastor of The Beloved Church of Lena, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday naming Gov. J.B. Pritzker and three local officials as defendants.
The lawsuit alleges Pritzker "flagrantly violated" the federal and state constitutions and the "fundamental religious liberties of Illinoisans" when he issued an executive order March 20 restricting activities deemed nonessential by the state. The lawsuit also claims the order violates the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits governing bodies from establishing any regulations "[through] which the free exercise of religion is substantially burdened."
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An extended stay-at-home order, with some modifications, takes effect Friday and is set to last through May 31.
The suit seeks a temporary restraining order, which would allow Cassell to conduct public services Sunday. Cassell and church leaders "fear prosecution and arrest if they do so" without immediate relief from a federal court, the suit states.
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Churches and religious institutions throughout the state should not be shut down while retail stores, liquor stores and other businesses are allowed to remain open, as those facilities pose a "similar or greater degree" of risk to the general public, the suit states.
"Pritzker's statements and actions during the coronavirus epidemic demonstrate an illegal and discriminatory hostility to religious practice, churches, and people of faith," the lawsuit states.
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In the suit, Cassell calls Pritzker's executive orders a "hodgepodge of special rules, exceptions, and provisions," and it argues the state's churches are "no less 'essential' than its liquor stores to the health and well-being of its residents."
"Plaintiffs believe that, in these dark times, Illinoisans need the Spirit of Almighty God, but Pritzker's orders have left them to settle for the lesser spirits dispensed out of the state's
liquor stores," the suit states.
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Like other lawsuits filed over the past week against the stay-at-home orders, Cassell's suit argues Pritzker did not have the authority to extend his initial executive order past April 7.
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Republican state Reps. Darren Bailey and John Cabello are also challenging Pritzker's extension of the stay-at-home order in the state court system. Bailey, of Clay County, was granted a temporary restraining order Monday blocking the government from enforcing the stay-at-home order on him. The Illinois Attorney General's Office is weighing an appeal.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has faced similar lawsuits from churches challenging her state's stay-at-home orders. Kelly filed a motion in federal court over the weekend signalling her intent to issue a new executive order to allow socially distanced public gatherings, KCUR reports.
This article originally appeared on the Rockford Patch
