Attorney who sued Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes on IHSA over face covering rules
The Bond County attorney who has represented dozens of clients fighting Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s orders issued to stop the spread of the coronavirus is now taking on the Illinois High School Association’s face-covering rules on behalf of students, including his two children who play sports at Hillsboro High School.
The IHSA has told school administrators that high school athletes should wear masks while indoors or when they can’t socially distance themselves outside.
In the group’s latest plan announced on Tuesday, the IHSA said it would follow all directives from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois State Board of Education and Prizker’s office regarding masks for student-athletes.
“Some of the recommendations by the IHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and directives from IDPH have come into direct conflict with each other, especially as it relates to the use of masks by student-athletes,” IHSA Director Craig Anderson said in a news release.
In an amended plan released last week in an effort to control COVID-19 cases, the organization had said athletes cannot participate in contact drills or scrimmages.
Attorney Tom DeVore has filed a lawsuit alleging that the IHSA does not have the authority to regulate the high school athletes.
DeVore said in an interview that the General Assembly is responsible for establishing laws for regulating public health issues.
“If they want to pass some laws saying kids have to do this or parents have to do that, I can at least accept procedurally that’s the way it should happen,” DeVore said.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday, names the IHSA’s board of directors, Anderson and the Hillsboro School Board as defendants.
“We are aware of the lawsuit and do not plan on commenting on ongoing litigation at this time,” Anderson said in a statement. “All of our efforts remain focused on working with the top medical professionals in the state to try and provide the safest framework possible for the return of our students to IHSA sports and activities in 2020-21.”
David Powell, the superintendent of the Hillsboro School District, declined to comment on the lawsuit and said it has been referred to the district’s attorney. Powell did say that his district follows the guidelines issued by the IHSA.
For example, Powell said the school’s football players do not have to wear a mask while they participate in individual training drills outside or listen to coaches talk during outdoor meetings. The student athletes would be required to wear a mask when they are inside a school building, however.
DeVore’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of two of his children who play sports at Hillsboro High School and for all parents and guardians of children who play sports in Illinois high schools.
A hearing on DeVore’s request for an injunction against the IHSA is scheduled for July 23, DeVore said.
DeVore’s previous lawsuits regarding coronavirus rules this year include a case filed on behalf of Republican Rep. Darren Bailey, who alleges Pritzker overstepped his legal authority regarding his stay-at-home order.
Pritzker, a Democrat, has called Bailey’s lawsuit and one filed by another Republican lawmaker as “irresponsible.” On July 2, Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney ruled that all executive orders issued by Pritzker since April 8 are void because he exceeded his authority by using his emergency powers for more than 30 days.
A spokesperson for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has said officials are “reviewing” McHaney’s order and “evaluating our options.”
Bailey is from Xenia, which is about 80 miles east of Belleville off U.S. 50 in Clay County.
