On Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker settled a lawsuit alleging he violated a Champaign ministry’s right to religious freedom by surrendering.
Rather than fight in court to defend his decision to limit church attendance to 10 people, Pritzker withdrew the rules he previously put in place, replacing them with suggestions on how churches in the state might safely conduct services in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Pritzker’s lawyers faced a midnight Thursday deadline at the U.S. District Court in Urbana to respond to a May 12 lawsuit filed by the Jesus House Restoration Ministries in Champaign. But midnight came and went with no response from the governor.
On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Eric Long issued an order stating that “the case has been reported settled by the parties.”
In his filing, Long said pending motions and court dates in the matter are now “moot.”
“If the settlement does not occur, the parties can request that the motions be reinstated,” he said.
Change of direction
Facing a number of lawsuits filed by religious organizations, including the one filed in Urbana, Pritzker on Thursday released voluntary guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health religious that church leaders can follow to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
While the health department warned about “high risk” activities — “singing and group recitation” — Pritzker conceded that the recommendations are not “mandated” behavior but requests for voluntary compliance.
Tim Belz, the St. Louis lawyer representing the local ministry, said he was pleased to have the matter resolved.
“I’m not going to crow about it. But (Pritzker) gave us what we asked the court to give us. So we’re happy,” Belz said.
He was part of a legal team put together by the Thomas More Society of Illinois.
Pritzker’s challenge to Jesus House Restorations Ministries was curious because the organization offers both religious and social services to people on the fringes of society who have issues with poverty, mental health or addiction.
It holds church services weekly in the rear parking lot of Rogers Building Supply, 350 N. Walnut St., C, providing nourishment to the body and soul of those who attend. Last Sunday’s service drew about
50 people, exceeding the 10-person limit Pritzker mandated.
At the end of the services, attendees were provided meals if they were hungry and clothes if they needed them.
What’s ironic is that if the ministry had provided only food and clothing, its activities were permitted under Pritzker’s lockdown rules that deem social-service agencies essential. Because it conducted religious services to more than 10 people — outside, with seating at the proper social distance — it ran afoul of Pritzker’s lockdown and was hit with an April 20 “cease and desist order” from the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
Belz said permitting social services to a large group but forbidding religious services made no sense.
“You can talk all you want about civil rights. But it’s good facts that win cases, and the facts here were really good for our side. I don’t know how the governor was going to get around them,” Belz said.
Neither did Pritzker, either legally or politically, both in the Champaign case and another involving two churches in northern Illinois.
Timing was right
The governor announced his new policy requesting voluntary compliance shortly before the deadline his lawyers faced to file a response to the appeal by two Illinois churches seeking emergency relief from his church crackdown.
Pritzker’s church policy has now gone full circle. He initially barred even drive-in church services. After being challenged on the legality of that position, he backed off the ban and drive-in services were “encouraged” by his rules.
While obviously reluctant to modify his rules, Pritzker defended his approach, saying “I have never encouraged any police enforcement or any other kind of breaking up of gatherings.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, however, used Pritzker’s rules to discourage church services in Chicago. News reports indicated she directed police to break up church services, instituted rules that made it difficult to park near churches and fined those that held services.
Ironically, in a May 26 article, Dustin Brown, who oversees Jesus Restoration Ministries, predicted that Pritzker would have a change of heart on the rules.
How did he know?
“The first answer is that the Holy Spirit just told me that was going to happen. The second answer is that what we are doing is different, reaching out to the ‘least of these,’” he said, citing scripture.
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Jim Dey | Pritzker orders that his orders are now suggestions - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
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