A downstate Illinois judge issued a ruling declaring Gov. J.B. Pritzker's emergency rules for COVID-19 mitigations in schools "null and void," effectively stopping the state's mask mandate in school buildings.
Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow issued the order Friday afternoon in a lawsuit brought by hundreds of parents in more than 145 school districts who claim the mask order denies students due process.
"Statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of executive orders and emergency rules," she stated in the 29-page order. "This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain.”
Read the full ruling here.
The state of Illinois plans to appeal the decision, Pritzker said late Friday, calling the judge's decision "misguided."
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