CHICAGO (WordNews.org) May 26, 2020 — The Chicago Department of Public Health sent a letter to Elim Pentecostal Church as well as Romanian churches in the city over the weekend threatening closure and “summary abatement.”
Liberty Counsel said in the letter, which it described as threatening, Commissioner Allison Arwady wrote: “I am authorized to seek to enjoin such nuisance or to cause the same to be summarily abated in such manner as I may direct….”
The letter ended by stating that “the City will take steps necessary to abate, including Summary Abatement.”
According to the Illinois Supreme Court, “Summary abatement would mean to put down or destroy without process. Liberty Counsel said this means the inspector can, upon his own judgment, cause the alleged nuisance to stop on his own authority and effect a destruction of property at his discretion.” City of Kankakee v. New York Cent. R. Co., 387 Ill. 109, 116, 55 N.E.2d 87, 90 (1944).
The letters came the day after President Donald Trump stated that houses of worship are essential and that governors must allow them to reopen.
“In between President Donald Trump’s announcement that houses of worship should open and Memorial Day where we honor brave men and woman who fought and died for our freedom, Chicago threatens to close and even destroy churches. What a contrast,” said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said. “The executive orders from Gov. J.B. Pritzker are an insult to the First Amendment and to all Americans who understand the price and value of religious freedom. Each day the thug tactics to close churches in Illinois gets more bizarre and outrageous. The courts must stop this insanity.”
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