Rep. Darren Bailey Asks Appellate Court To Vacate Restraining Order, Plans Amended Lawsuit Against Stay-At-Home Order
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Just days after a downstate judge granted him a restraining order exempting him from the extended statewide stay-at-home order, state Rep. Darren Bailey is asking the Illinois Appellate Court to vacate that order so he can file an amended lawsuit.
In a filing late Thursday night, Bailey's attorney asked the appeals court for consent to voluntarily vacate the temporary restraining order and send the matter back to Clay County Circuit Court.
Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney on Monday granted Bailey a temporary restraining order exempting him, and him alone, from the governor's extended stay-at-home order.
In a news release on Friday, Bailey, a Republican from Xenia, said he was asking to vacate that order, because he claimed to have uncovered "new documentation" Gov. JB Pritzker's office and the Illinois Department of Public Health "failed to provide as required by Illinois law."
"We feel it is in the best interest of the people of the State of Illinois to voluntarily ask the Appellate Court to vacate the temporary restraining order. I will then file ask to file an amended complaint in the circuit court alleging the newly discovered facts and issues," Bailey stated in the release. "This new information offers a more complete picture and brings to light additional problems in regard to the procedural and substantive shortcomings of the Governor's office and the Board of Health's safeguarding of the civil rights of the citizens of the state. This will strengthen our efforts to ensure the liberty of all Illinoisans."
The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Pritzker has called Bailey's lawsuit "a cheap political stunt designed so that the representative can see his name in headlines."
The Illinois Attorney General's office has appealed Bailey's lawsuit, and is asking the Illinois Supreme Court to weigh in.
