Legal challenges to governors’ coronavirus shutdown orders are piling up nationwide, putting state leaders on the defensive as citizens and businesses itching to get back to normal take their arguments to court — in some cases succeeding at voiding the governors’ actions.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, for example, struck down Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ “safer at home” order on the grounds that his administration did not have the power to unilaterally impose the restrictions without the input of the state legislature. Evers Monday gave up his effort to reimpose statewide rules to slow the coronavirus’ spread after it became clear he would not be able to come to an agreement with Republican lawmakers.

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“The Republicans made it very clear they don’t believe a statewide approach is the right way to go at this point in time,” he said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense spending a lot of time doing something we know isn’t going to be successful.”

Wisconsin’s Republican-led Legislature blocked efforts by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to reinstitute statewide coronavirus restrictions after the state supreme court struck down his executive order aimed at preventing the virus’ spread. (AP)

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Meanwhile, the Oregon Supreme Court Monday night temporarily blocked a lower court order that would have invalidated all of the state’s coronavirus restrictions. A county circuit judge earlier had ruled that Democratic Gov. Kate Brown needed to get the legislature to sign off on her “stay-at-home” order past a 28-day limit. But the state supreme court ruled that the order would stay in place until the tribunal had a chance to fully review the case, which was brought by a group of churches.

Brown slammed the lower court ruling on Monday before the higher court left her restrictions in place, at least temporarily.

“It is irresponsible to dismiss the health risks and science behind our measures to stop COVID-19,” she tweeted. “We would be faced with the prospect of another mass outbreak without the tools that have proven to be effective in protecting our families, neighbors & loved ones from this disease.”

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The looming battle in the Oregon Supreme Court comes as a case is pending before a lower court in Illinois that has the potential to invalidate that state’s coronavirus restrictions implemented by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. A judge who ruled against Pritzker’s order as it applied to just one state lawmaker will hear arguments Friday in a case that attempts to undo the order in its entirety, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Pritzker, according to the Associated Press, blasted the state lawmaker, Darren Bailey, who was behind the initial successful attempt to invalidate his order — although on a much smaller scale.

“It’s insulting. It’s dangerous and people’s safety and health have now been put at risk,” Pritzker said. “There may be people who contract coronavirus as a result of what Darren Bailey has done.”

ILLINOIS JUDGE RULES AGAINST GOV. PRITZKER’S STAY-AT-HOME ORDER BROUGHT BY GOP LAWMAKER

Meanwhile, California alone is facing at least a dozen lawsuits that include claims that the state has unjustly closed down gun shops and religious services. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is up against a lawsuit from Republicans in her state’s House and Senate over her extension of an already-strict emergency order that has regulated residents’ movement and closed businesses. And Kentucky protesters sued officials including Gov. Andy Beshear, also a Democrat, for allegedly violating the First Amendment by banning mass protests.

A group of Ohio gyms sued Republican Gov. Mike DeWine over his reopening order excluding them from those businesses allowed to operate, but it was subsequently announced that they will be allowed to reopen after all.

The widespread spate of suits shows that with governors taking the lead on the coronavirus crisis — and the federal government and state legislatures largely in the backseat — those who disapprove of the nature of the coronavirus lockdowns see the judiciary as their only option for relief from the orders.

A lawsuit against Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan by a group of businesses in western Maryland, some former military members, Republican state lawmakers, and several religious leaders is pending in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, with the government’s most recent filing coming Monday. The initial complaint in the suit said: “Governor Hogan has, respectfully, gone beyond all necessities of the case and continues to invade the domain of Federal authority and our rights secured by the Constitution.”

The suit also alleges that Hogan’s aides “refused to state Del. [Daniel] Cox would not be arrested for speaking at” a rally against the governor’s orders, citing prohibitions against large gatherings.

Governors have had at least some success fending off legal challenges to their coronavirus restrictions. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court turned back an application asking it to overturn Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide stay-at-home order.

The post Governors face mounting court challenges over coronavirus lockdown orders first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the state’s stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic as “unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable” after finding that the state’s health secretary exceeded her authority.

In a 4-3 ruling, the court called Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm’s directive, known as Emergency Order 28, a “vast seizure of power.”

The order directed all people in the state to stay at home or at their places of residence, subject only to exceptions allowed by Palm, the ruling says. The order, which had been set to run until May 26, also restricted travel and business, along with threatening jail time or fines for those who don’t comply.

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The ruling says the judges weren’t challenging Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ emergency powers, but the decision effectively undercuts his administration and forces him to work out a compromise with the Republican-controlled Legislature.

One of the dissenting justices, Rebecca Dallet, said her conservative colleagues in the majority were the ones who were exceeding their authority, and she noted precedent for Palm’s directives — a monthslong stay-at-home order during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.

“This decision will undoubtedly go down as one of the most blatant examples of judicial activism in this court’s history,” she said. “And it will be Wisconsinites who pay the price.”

The decision is the result of the Legislature’s lawsuit against the Health Services Department alleging that Palm’s directives overreached and asking the court to grant relief to give the Legislature a “seat at the table” in the rule-making process.

During oral arguments, Justice Rebecca Bradley suggested that the order amounted to “tyranny,” and at another point, she referred to Japanese Americans’ internment during World War II.

Chief Justice Patience Roggensack actively questioned both sides and was later criticized for seeming to have downplayed a spike in cases connected to a JBS meatpacking in Green Bay.

Spikes in cases “were due to the meatpacking, though. That’s where Brown County got the flare. It wasn’t just the regular folks in Brown County,” Roggensack said in response to the Health Services Department’s highlighting the spread of the virus.

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There have been almost 11,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin and 421 deaths, according to the NBC News coronavirus tracker.

“Republicans believe business owners can safely reopen using the guidelines provided by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation,” the Republican leaders of Legislature said in a statement after the ruling.

Evers said, “Up until now, Wisconsin was in a pretty good place in our battle against COVID-19.”

“We cannot let today’s ruling undo all the work we have done and all the sacrifices Wisconsinites have made over these past few months,” he said in a statement. “I am disappointed in the decision today, but our top priority has been and will remain doing what we can and what we have to do to protect the health and safety of the people of our state.”

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/wisconsin-supreme-court-strikes-down-state-s-stay-home-order-n1206586

The post Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down state’s stay-at-home order first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.