White County States Attorney Denton Aud issued a press release late Wednesday afternoon specifically taking on Governor Pritzker’s Stay at Home Executive Order. In the nearly two page piece, Aud, spoke on behalf of White County Sheriff Doug Maier and county police chiefs Jason Carter, Diana Tharp, David Burrows and also Enfield police officer Mark Worlds, saying while they don’t doubt the sincerity of the governor and believe his administration is well intentioned that they will not arrest or prosecute anyone for conduct that would simply be in violation of the stay at home order. Aud says arrests and prosecutions arise from the violation of laws enacted by legislation and not executive edicts and good intentions are not a valid basis for overriding the rule of law. Aud drew from legal cases and opinions in the release and also says he and law enforcement do believe that Pritzker’s order exceed statutory authority and that the exercise cannot exceed 30 days. With that, he says he’s not advising businesses to violate the order as those with licenses could be putting it at risk and could also face civil liability. Aud closed his note with a quote from Justice Lloyd Karmeier’s 2015 opinion with regards to Heaton v. Quinn saying that it most aptly describes the current obligation of law enforcement. “Crisis is not an excuse to abandon the rule of law. It is a summons to defend it. How we respond is the measure of our commitment to the principles of justice we are sworn to uphold.”
Read the full release by clicking the link below to open the pdf.
