BREAKING – The Cook County Department of Health sought an order of quarantine of a student through the courts as it relates to exclusion from school.  Please see the links below for a copy of the amended petition and court order.

These are the same due process hearings that Attorney Thomas DeVore has been advocating for as it relates to masking, testing, vaccination, and exclusion from school. It has never been the position of Attorney Thomas DeVore that a student can not be compelled to mask or be excluded from school. Instead, DeVore stated there is a legal process in place in which a County Health Department can seek a court order of quarantine as outlined in the law.

Attorney Loretta Haggard, which represents the Illinois Education Association, stated before Judge Grishow’s court that this process would overburden the system.

On February 22, 2022, Cook County Judge Sanjay T. Taylor dismissed the Cook County Health Department’s case without prejudice, stating, “The Court may not deprive one of their liberty interests without giving them the opportunity to confront the government’s witnesses and to present their own witnesses.”

Furthermore, Judge Taylor stated, “…an order of quarantine constitutes a substantial deprivation of one’s liberty interest. Therefore, the law quite appropriately places a high burden on a governmental body seeking such relief. It is not enough that CCDPH allege that quarantine is necessary to prevent community transmission of Covid-19. Rather, the CCDPH must also allege a “medical basis” for the duration of the quarantine period that it imposed on the Respondent and then prove it by clear and convincing evidence.”

Why does the Illinois Education Association think it’s “OK” to deprive a citizen of their liberty without clear and convincing evidence?

On August 19, 2021, Allison Arwady, M.D., Commissioner of Health of the City of Chicago, issued an Indoor Mask Order, which also violates an individual’s due process, as it relates to needing a court order of quarantine – the same issues brought before Cook County Judge Taylor.

While it seems the Cook County Health Department is now following the rule of law, the City of Chicago Health Department continues to violate citizens due process rights.