Governor Pritzker’s nightmare – Executive Order power trumped by Illinois Supreme Court case law and Lisa Madigan written opinion
By Kirk Allen on May 18, 2020
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has been issuing executive orders for the last two months, and as people began to understand their rights and push back he took to threats and intimidation in hopes people would comply with his inappropriate and apparent illegal executive orders.
We first exposed a 2001 Attorney General opinion regarding the limitation of 30 days for Executive orders in this article. The Governor denied knowledge of the legal opinion from the very office representing him. Many of the Governor’s defenders quickly dismissed the opinion because of it being an informal opinion written during a Republican administration. We find those excuses laughable because the legal analysis is what is important.
Pritzker’s nightmare exposed – Lisa Madigan legal opinoin
Lisa Madigan issued her opinion on the applicability of executive orders to the Illinois State Police Merit Board in 2013. This appears to be yet another legal opinion either overlooked or ignored by Pritzker and his legal team. The value in this opinion lies not only from the fact it is signed by Lisa Madigan, but it is backed by an Illinois Supreme Court case.
Applicability of Executive Orders – “The Constitution provides that “[t]he Governor, by Executive Order, may reassign functions among or reorganize executive agencies which are directly responsible to him.” Ill. Const. 1970, art. V, § 11. This is the only reference to executive orders in the Constitution and, as a result, the only circumstance in which an executive order clearly carries the force and effect of law.”
“In general, article V, section 8, of the Illinois Constitution provides that “[t]he Governor shall have the supreme executive power, and shall be responsible for the faithful execution of the laws.” Citing this authority, the Illinois courts have suggested that an executive order may be a permissible method by which the Governor can execute an existing law, but that an executive order is not a vehicle for establishing a new legal requirement. Buettell v. Walker 59 Ill. 2d 146, 153-54 (1974). . Accordingly, the Governor does not have power to legislate by executive order, and, therefore, unless authorized by law, an executive order relating to matters other than executive reorganization can be no more than a policy directive to agencies under the Governor’s control. To conclude otherwise would cede to the Governor legislative powers which he is prohibited from exercising by the separation of powers doctrine. See Ill. Const. 1970, art. II, § 1; see generally Ill. Const. 1970, art. IV, § 1.”
Additional language in the opinion also points to the most basic legal analysis on statutory construction, a point we have written about dozens if not hundreds of times. Applying Madigan’s analysis to the language in the
moar:
https://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2020/05/governor-pritzkers-nightmare-executive-order-power-trumped-by-illinois-supreme-court-case-law-and-lisa-madigan-written-opinion/