60 Comments - Leigh John-Ella - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:12 am: For as often as he loses, you’d think Peter Breen would be better at recognizing a loss. - NIU Grad - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:12 am: This is the same party that is always accusing the other of “politicizing a crisis.” - Demoralized - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:12 am: ==latest threat of jail for people of faith== It’s irrelevant that they are “people of faith.” This about a violation of the law. He’s attempting to frame this as an argument that the Governor is out to get religious people. It’s an absurd argument and only shows how disingenous this guy is. - efudd - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:14 am: I guess respect for law, and law enforcement officials, goes out the window when it doesn’t jibe with “what you believe in.” Yet another cleric who says one thing, does the other. Seen it my whole life. - Approveman - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:18 am: ask governor is he considering a moratorium on all foreclosures too PROTECT ILLINOIS FAMILIES FROM LOSING there houses when the court lifts happen It will be worse than 2008-2009 - Observer - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:18 am: Heartbreaking, “do unto others”, love each other including your parents, grandparents and older neighbors. I think of the old “WWJD?” - Nieva - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:21 am: I believe there was a snake-handling scheduled that just couldn’t be put off… - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:22 am: === “Pritzker’s latest threat of jail for people of faith is outrageous, and we will seek immediate relief from the court of appeals to defend our clients,” said Peter Breen, an attorney with the Thomas More Society.=== Ask Blase Cardinal Cupich Mr. Breen. Anyone who still believes the phony Mr. Breen is pro-life only needs to see the grandstanding here, the “showman” pretending to care about faith while putting the lives of those sheep at risk… by a shepherd more concerned about anything… than understanding Matthew 18:20 Once Mr. Breen reversed himself and supported the pro-choice Bruce Rauner, it shouldn’t be surprising Mr. Breen’s willingness to ignore something put into place to save lives Heck, I’d overreact too. It’s all Mr. Breen has now. Hollow words, hyperbole, a warped sense of the need to worship during a pandemic… and ignoring… Matthew 18:20 Now Mr. Breen is apparently a bible toting ambulance chaser, or is it that his goal is the need for more ambulances? - efudd - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:22 am: Approveman- What? - don the legend - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:23 am: == when the court lifts happen== I’ve experience fat fingers when typing but i can’t figure out what this means. - Jocko - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:26 am: ==Pritzker’s latest threat of jail for people of faith is outrageous== Come down off the cross, we can use the wood (to make facemasks). BTW - I don’t recall a priest, rabbi, or mullah taking part in your lawsuit. - Publius - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:29 am: Reminds me if the joke about the guy in a flood and when the order was give to evacuate said the lord will save me When the water reaches his house a truck stoped and offered a ride he replied the lord will save me the water reached his windows a boat offered him a ride he refused the lord will save me As he climbed to his roof to escape the a helicopter cane down to lift him to safety he again refused the lord will save me After drowning as he stood before god he ask lord I proved my faith why didn’t you save me, the lord said I sent you car, a boat and a helicopter Come folks - Cubs in '16 - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:35 am: ===“Pritzker’s latest threat of jail for people of faith is outrageous…” That has more spin than a Kerry Wood slider. - DTAG - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:35 am: I really hate wearing a mask, I hate having to shave my beard so my mask will fit comfortably, I hate how wearing a mask fogs up my glasses. I would hate even more if my actions inadvertently killed someone else, I would probably hate dying myself but by the time I would figure that out it would probably be too late. People need to stay at home and mask up if they can’t for everyone’s sake. - Last Bull Moose - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:35 am: This is a misstep by the Governor. The state should not say how people worship. My church, like most, has gone to streaming services. They even have Zoom bible study. I expect that more than 19 out of 20 pastors are not wanting group services. The Catholic Church in Chicago shut down ahead of state orders. We can bend the curve while keeping a bright line between church and state This is a fight best avoided. - Candy Dogood - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:36 am: ===Peter Breen, an attorney with the Thomas More Society.=== Someone should probably explain that dying from a viral infection because one insisted on still having large gatherings as part of their worship services isn’t going to make anyone a saint. But yeesh. Are some of these pastors in a race to be the 21st century version of Jonestown? - Perrid - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:37 am: Breen doesn’t like Pritzker’s statement of fact that jail is an “option”. In fact, Breen finds facts “threatening”. That’s telling. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:38 am: === This is a misstep by the Governor. The state should not say how people worship.=== With great respect… This isn’t telling *anyone* how to worship… … it’s telling society not to gather and spread a virus during a pandemic. - Ducky LaMoore - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:39 am: This is the new Republican Party… anti-God, anti-life, and anti-law and order. - efudd - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:43 am: Approveman- Oh, you put it in all caps. That clears up everything. - Cubs in '16 - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:44 am: ‘Breen’s latest threat of deadly COVID-19 exposure for people of faith is outrageous…’ See? It can work both ways. - Arock - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:45 am: OW - but a non-essential place that provides services of choice such as abortion clinics are fair game to expose people to the virus according to our government. While services for many with existing medical issues have been curtailed or eliminated the choice to have your unborn child killed while possibly exposing others to the virus is a right that you probably back. The sale of marijuana for non-medical reasons is considered an essential service in this State. The hypocrisy is strong. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:49 am: === but a non-essential place that provides services of choice such as abortion clinics are fair game to expose people to the virus according to our government.=== Are 100+ people, standing shoulder to shoulder, singing, for an hour the same? I dunno. You want churches open “because abortion clinics”? I thought the far right wants those clinics fully closed. Arguing that churches should allow gatherings because of those clinics is terribly hypocritical to their own message. It’s like the railing in hypocrisy by… hypocrisy? - Hard D - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:50 am: I said last week that Breen would lose this case in that courtroom. Judge lee is a Obama appointee who is considered the most liberal judge in the 7th circuit. His ruling cited 2 cases from Massachusetts one from 1905 the other 1944. When judges go back 76 years on one case and 105 years on the other they clearly are looking for something to hang there hat on in hopes of it sticking. Yesterday it was reported he filed a appeal if so let’s wait and see which three judges it gets assigned to. - Frank talks - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:50 am: We know the Speaker is going to spend the money to keep Costa Howard from losing to Breen, as he’s raised a ton. Now however Breen is going to make sure she’s the Governors favorite candidate. Btw if you haven’t watched Dupage lately this GOP hard right wing religious zealot stuff isn’t playing anymore. - efudd - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 9:52 am: Arock- The restrictions for elective surgery have begun to ease, along with follow-up procedures. I could have had a follow-up last month at a local hospital but declined. The sale of recreational marijuana has not been curtailed. Neither has the sale of booze, tobacco, lottery tickets etc. I need a net to catch all the red herrings you put out. - @misterjayem - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:00 am: “The state should not say how people worship.” In Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), the late Justice Antonin Scalia held that the 1st Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion wasn’t violated when a state passed a “neutral, generally applicable law” that just happened to make it harder for some people to practice their religion. First Amendment rights have never been absolute. – MrJM - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:03 am: Of course it would be possible to worship with social distancing, masks and limiting attendance in churches. Look at the jammed parking lots at big box retailers and explain how churches cannot find a way to open safely. Big stores are allowed to open, small business is not. In Chicago, golf courses are still closed, Divvy bikes are open. There are constitutional issues that should be resolved - Demoralized - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:04 am: Geez Arock. Can you come up with a few more red herrings? - Demoralized - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:06 am: ==The state should not say how people worship.== The state is doing no such thing. They are only saying how many people can be in a group at a time. I think some of you need to stop playing such victims. - Grandson of Man - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:09 am: “I will say, however, that if people are persistently defiant, they can be put in jail.“ Pritzker’s cutting people slack, as he has been saying generally in the daily COVID-19 address. Pritzker doesn’t want to put people in jail but is emphasizing the importance of social distancing. Plus, Christians are supposed to give Caesar his due and not be attached to things of this world, not worry about where to pray or be madly attached to money. Oh ye of little faith, be like birds and lilies of the field for whom God provides and don’t obsess about the material things of this world. - thoughts matter - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:10 am: I started to type that they should be allowed to group worship if they agree to the following: Stock up on groceries for two weeks beforehand. Self isolate in their home for two weeks afterward. However, I realized that they aren’t the type of people that would do that. They would continue to go out and about because they don’t think safety rules apply to them. - Donaldson - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:12 am: I just keep thinking the argument to stay put and stay home and the EO would be stronger if Gov Pritzkers family wasn’t down in a seaside horse farm in Florida. But my hair is so long now I might not be thinking straight. - Henry Francis - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:22 am: “Think how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” - George Carlin These days it seems like 90% of what we hear is from that bottom half. - Roman - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:22 am: One of the primary features of American conservatism in the Trump era is the desire to embrace victim status whenever possible. Breen is a master of this practice. I’m old enough to remember when liberals were the whiners. - efudd - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:25 am: Donaldson- Of course, you’re right. If Pritzker’s family were in Illinois there wouldn’t be near the dissent, TRO’s, people with signs, etc. - Mary - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:31 am: Interesting how much this bother you all. Lots of folks shopping at Walmart, Menards, Costco, Target, no problem. Getting carryout’s okay, but going to church nope. Odd. Glad this is being appealed. We’ll see what happens. - Candy Dogood - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:31 am: ===The state should not say how people worship.=== There’s plenty of ways in which the state says how not to worship especially considering the significant number of religious practices that have been and are observed by people over the course of human history. We generally frown on human sacrifice, ritualized cannibalism (except for when it’s just wheat and grape products) plural marriage and a whole host of other things that we used to do. “The state” has also imposed civil rules around common religious celebrations, and in some places literally refuses to sell you liquor on a random day of the week to please the superstitions of others. The state asking churches not to hold large in person services during a pandemic is not an oppressive threat to the rights of exercising freedom of religion, and the state quite literally has numerous codes, rules, and laws which prevent a lot of potential religious observations from being legally practiced. I have ancestors that would burn maidens alive to honor a dead leader, or sacrifice captives and other victims to please various deities. Truly free worship of Odin requires offering human sacrifices. This creates a fun exercise — either human sacrifice has to be permissible or the state is free to impose some restriction on some activities that can sometimes be religious (Serial murders in this case) I am sometimes shocked at the number of adults that never moved past the “It’s a free country” retort from their childhood when their classmates complained about them cutting in line at the drinking fountain. - DougChicago - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:31 am: Oh, Peter Breen, how can we miss you when you won’t go away? Perhaps when the voters flush you a second time this November you will take the hint. Start up a radio talk show or a phony newspaper or two and give Cicero Dan and Brian Timpone some competition. - Top of the State - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:46 am: Pritzker did allow for parking lot services and small groups after the lawsuit was filed. Religious organizations tend to win legal battles, but perhaps not in the Breen case. - anon2 - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:47 am: === Dude, your client ignored a federal judge’s ruling as well as the executive order.=== Conservatives preach law ‘n order, but don’t consistently practice it. - Give us Barabbas - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:48 am: I wish the reporters would lean on Cardinal Cupich for a statement about this. Might put Breen in his place. There’s a large faction of old-school Catholic laity and priests who are upset their cheese got moved with the arrival of Pope Francis andCardinal Cupich. They had power and status and they liked welding it their way, and now they are on the outside, they look for wedge issues to stir up resentments against their own bosses, to try and gain back their influence. But they’re in eclipse, though they’re in denial about it. Same as the hard right wing of the GOP. The numbers (demographics) will not be moved by these kinds of stunts. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:53 am: ===We support Governor Pritzker’s efforts to save precious human lives during the COVID-19 pandemic=== Blase Cardinal Cupich… 3 days ago, via twitter :) - cermak_rd - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 10:55 am: I’m just confused because I could swear the gov went out of his way not to threaten people with jail. He pretty much said that the best way to prevent spread is to avoid large gatherings and the enforcement of that is primarily to tell people (like the clergy people and worshippers) that it is unhealthy for them to gather so they can then use their own good judgement. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:00 am: - Hard D - lol Explain the same ruling by federal judges in KY and CA. “The judge”…. For the love of all that’s holy… - Joe Bidenopolous - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:05 am: Jocko - thanks for the Tom Waits reference. Wholly appropriate. And all Breen’s crying won’t do no good - Roman - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:33 am: - Give us Barabbas - Thankfully, the science deniers started losing there grasp on the Catholic Church shortly after locking up Galileo in the 1630’s. It should be lost on no one that Breen’s Thomas More Society (nominally a Catholic organization) couldn’t find a Catholic parish to join their suit. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:35 am: === It should be lost on no one that Breen’s Thomas More Society (nominally a Catholic organization) couldn’t find a Catholic parish to join their suit.=== - Roman - (exclamation markS) You’re ruining my fun… and Mr. Breen’s narrative of who he is. You’re not wrong, but… - Soccermom - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:40 am: Last BM — When the virus starts respecting the clear bright line between church and state, I will agree with you. But speaking as someone who burst into tears when she read that 30 pastors have died of this thing, I’m not willing to let people risk their lives because they have been willfully misinformed of the danger. - robert lincoln - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:41 am: Let the churches open. However, the pastor is required to provide his congregants private health care at his church. No access for congregants to hospitals if diagnosed with Covid 19. Attend at your own risk. - Huh? - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:46 am: Sounds like breem would get along with the Ohio law maker that refuses to wear a mask because “because the face is the “image and likeness of God.” That statement makes me wonder why he isn’t walking around in the buff, to show off “the entire image and likeness of god.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ohio-masks-likeness-of-god-nino-vitale_n_5eb0c6d6c5b62b850f90eb42 - SaulGoodman - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 11:57 am: **Big stores are allowed to open, small business is not. ** Sigh… this is a blatant lie. Or, I guess it would be news to the small independently owned grocery store I shopped at last week. And the restaurant I got delivery from. And the small hardware store. And the pool guy who is opening my pool. And the landscaping company that does my neighbors yard. Should I keep going? - Law Man - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 12:22 pm: Someone keeps deleting my comments that seem to disagree with the capitolfax majority like Misterjam, who cited a case. Left unsaid? In Oregon the parishioners of an Indian church were fired from from their jobs after using an Illegal controlled substance and were denied unemployment. Three other cases are more on point to the Lena matter. These three cases are Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963), Thomas v. Review Board, Indiana Employment Security Div., 450 U.S. 707 (1981), and Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n of Florida, 480 U.S. 136 (1987). In those cases the Court ruled that governmental actions that substantially burden a religious practice must be measured by a balancing test and justified by a compelling governmental interest. However, in Oregon, the Court said that this test is not applicable to ‘an across-the-board criminal prohibition on a particular form of conduct.” The Court therefore held that because the claimants’ ingestion of peyote was prohibited under Oregon law, and because that prohibition is constitutional, Oregon may deny unemployment compensation when the dismissal results from use of illegal drugs. This denial would be consistent with the Free Exercise Clause. The stay at home order, unlike listing the drug as a controlled substance, is not constitutional. (We’ll see if this comment lasts) - Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 12:34 pm: -The stay at home order, unlike listing the drug as a controlled substance, is not constitutional.- Says you. - Soccermom - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 12:41 pm: Candy Dogood — Ha! You remind me of the snotty young British aristocrat who refused the Eucharist while at Eton because he was a vegetarian. - Law Man - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 1:28 pm: Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 12:34 pm: -The stay at home order, unlike listing the drug as a controlled substance, is not constitutional.- You are correct and the courts will find I am correct. It amazes me how many people and “journalists” are willing to give up their constitutional rights and of course, give up mine also. (Again says me but it’s based on 3 years in law school and 35 years in practice) - Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 1:32 pm: -(Again says me but it’s based on 3 years in law school and 35 years in practice)- Hey I have a JD and decades of experience too! But I will let the judges decide the cases before them, as I recognize my opinion doesn’t matter. - Huh? - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 1:33 pm: Lawman - What did US District Court Judge John Z. Lee write in his opinion? “But even the foundational rights secured by the First Amendment are not without limits; they are subject to restriction if necessary to further compelling government interests — and, certainly, the prevention of mass infections and deaths qualifies. After all, without life, there can be no liberty or pursuit of happiness.” - Lucky Pierre - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 3:22 pm: Blatant lie? Small businesses that sell books, music, toys, flowers, shoes, clothes, sporting goods just opened May 1st for curbside delivery. They closed back in March. Costco, Walmart and Target have been able to sell these items because they also sell groceries. - ArchPundit - Tuesday, May 5, 20 @ 3:56 pm: === In those cases the Court ruled that governmental actions that substantially burden a religious practice must be measured by a balancing test and justified by a compelling governmental interest Of which police powers for public health are some of the strongest powers of state governments. There is a compelling state interest to keep people from dying. The restrictions on religious gatherings during this time are neutral to religion. Most churches understand this, but a small group of death cult members are challenging it. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.