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Federal judge’s ruling utterly rips apart indefinite coronavirus lockdowns
Bgr.com ^ | 9/15/20 | Andy Meek

Posted on 09/15/2020 5:03:58 AM PDT by cotton1706

Pennsylvania was like most states at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, soon enough implementing a series of coronavirus lockdowns and related mandates that included shuttering “non-life-sustaining” businesses to curb the spread of the virus. The measures also included clamping down on gatherings of 25 people indoors and 250 people outdoors.

Unfortunately, the restrictions led a group of plaintiffs including hair salons, drive-in movie theaters, as well as some Republican officeholders to file a lawsuit against Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his health secretary against measures they claimed were over-broad and infringed on their rights. And, in a bit of a surprise, a federal judge on Monday ended up siding with the plaintiffs. That means, US District Judge William Stickman IV ruled, the state’s actions were unconstitutional.

While the ruling, according to local news accounts, acknowledged that the measures were an understandable response to COVID-19 and “were undertaken with the good intention of addressing a public health emergency,” Stickman goes on to declare that “even in an emergency, the authority of government is not unfettered. The Constitution cannot accept the concept of a ‘new normal’ where the basic liberties of the people can be subordinated to open-ended emergency mitigation measures.”

Elsewhere in Stickman’s ruling, he opined that “Good intentions toward a laudable end are not enough to uphold governmental action against a constitutional challenge.” Among the consequences of this ruling, plaintiffs attorney Thomas W. King III told reporters after it was issued, is that the current pandemic-related restrictions in place in the state such as limitations on the size of gatherings cannot be enforced.

(Excerpt) Read more at bgr.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Colorado; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: elections; federaljudge; lockdown; paping; tomwolf; unconstitutional; unenforceable
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To: cuban leaf

Nail Salons.


21 posted on 09/15/2020 5:26:59 AM PDT by bigdaddy45
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To: cotton1706

The problem here is SCOTUS and Roberts (and Trumps unfortunately wholly unreliable ‘constitutionalist’ pmappointments.) This should be crushed with civil disobedience but neither the populace nor our sacred R federal and state lawmakers have the will.


22 posted on 09/15/2020 5:28:05 AM PDT by Phinneous (By the way, there are Seven Laws for you too! Noahide.org)
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To: cotton1706

They’ll just find another judge who disagrees and then up it goes


23 posted on 09/15/2020 5:30:48 AM PDT by panzerkamphwageneinz
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To: cotton1706
The entire lockdown was an experiment propogated by Fauci. He was pretty upset that some states refused to be locked down. He sure didn't want a test group screwing things up.

I'm waiting to see the stats on those that did NOT shutdown.

You do NOT quarantine well people.

Fauci has recently changed his tune....get out in the sun, fresh air, open your windows...and masks are ONLY when you can't keep 6 feet between you.

CDC put out another guide line...it takes 15 minutes face to face with NO MASKS to POSSIBLY catch the virus.

24 posted on 09/15/2020 5:30:54 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: cuban leaf

Pot shops and abortion clinics


25 posted on 09/15/2020 5:32:56 AM PDT by Maskot (Put every dem/lib in prison........like yesterday!!!)
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To: cotton1706

No matter how you slice it, this is big.

Glad I got in before all the “But,but, but the MEDIA! / the Dems! / the Left! / Soros!” negativity crap.


26 posted on 09/15/2020 5:35:22 AM PDT by AFB-XYZ (Option 1 -- stand up. Option 2 -- bend over.)
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To: Flavious_Maximus

This guy is Federal so he probably trumps State.


27 posted on 09/15/2020 5:38:19 AM PDT by DoubleNickle
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To: Biggirl

Does that matter?

Pro football has become antiAmerican. The Africanizaton of football is a travesty. Worshipping foot ball and the jocks is harmful to America


28 posted on 09/15/2020 5:41:50 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies.....all of them)
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To: Flavious_Maximus
But the hack democrat judges on the PA Supreme Court have already ruled that Wolf can rule like a dictator and shut down business, churches, youth camps, gyms, etc.

Who has supremacy?

The U.S. Constitution trumps any state constitution. This ruling was by a federal judge based on the U.S. Constitution.

29 posted on 09/15/2020 5:43:16 AM PDT by Yo-Yo ( is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Yo-Yo; All
Unfortunately, the restrictions led a group of plaintiffs including hair salons, drive-in movie theaters, as well as some Republican officeholders to file a lawsuit against Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his health secretary against measures they claimed were over-broad and infringed on their rights.

The word "Unfortunately" removes this from the news category and moves it into the advocacy category.

The writer is a pronounced leftist.

30 posted on 09/15/2020 5:53:08 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: cotton1706

The most important excerpt: “The judge, an appointee of President Trump”


31 posted on 09/15/2020 5:56:01 AM PDT by The Truth Will Make You Free
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To: Fresh Wind

It took me a little digging but this should b ea PDF of it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FL3Y1kDPricSINHlym0lVIw9hdsvmZmx/view

If not, this article on Newsmax shoud get ya there...

https://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/986879/16


32 posted on 09/15/2020 5:57:40 AM PDT by Paleo Pete (I smile because you are family. I laugh because you can do nothing about it...)
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To: cotton1706

It’s not a “State of Emergency” is it is continuous.


33 posted on 09/15/2020 6:02:40 AM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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To: CodeToad

All of our stores have remained OPEN during the entire year of 2020. Schools closed, forced to, but reopened Aug 1, no problem. Our gym shut down SADLY! We were continuing to pay the monthly fee, but the gym being run by honest ppl, closed anyway.


34 posted on 09/15/2020 6:04:49 AM PDT by buffyt (We will only have peace in America when the Democrats love our country more than they hate Trump)
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To: bigdaddy45; Maskot

Most businesses are life sustaining - to the people that work there and/or own it, and/or invest in it.

I know businesses that have closed down that were not weak. they were strong, thriving businesses. They are gone forever and families are destroyed.

Our culture is committing suicide.

For the record, this is a financial and time boom for me. I avoid a 3 hour daily commute and its cost, which, including parking, as cosing me after tax dollars of $800 a month.

To some that may not seem like much, but I live in the land of $1000 mortgage payments and $250 a year property taxes. It’s huge. If I still lived in Seattle it would be the equivalent of about $3,000 a month.

This is why I try to spread that wealth in my small community.


35 posted on 09/15/2020 6:07:06 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: buffyt

I’m in Colorado. The homosexual governor has been a tyrant dictator. He’s closed everything.


36 posted on 09/15/2020 6:08:49 AM PDT by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Have!)
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To: cotton1706

State Sen. Doug Mastriano went through the 66 page ruling in detail last night on his nightly video chat. It is devastating. It appears that Wolf delegated the whole operation to his staff, who were either too lazy, incompetent or arrogant to even lay down the necessary fig leaves to defend it in court.

Of course I won’t be the least bit surprised if the appeals court tosses all of the immutable logic in this decision and circles the wagons around the Swamp.


37 posted on 09/15/2020 6:15:03 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: Fresh Wind
Does anyone have a link to the text of the judge’s ruling?

Here you go.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/nHKc19-show_temp.pdf


38 posted on 09/15/2020 6:16:41 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: Flavious_Maximus

When it comes to the US Constitution, the premise of the argument, the federal courts have supremacy. Our state constitution is virtually identical to the US Constitution, but that matters not to the Democrat-controlled state supreme court. Wolf has said that he will appeal to the 3rd Circuit Court and will probably request an “emergency” stay - for reasons of public health, of course.


39 posted on 09/15/2020 6:33:34 AM PDT by ManHunter (You can run, but you'll only die tired... Army snipers: Reach out and touch someone)
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To: cotton1706

Rule of Law survives the imbeciles.


40 posted on 09/15/2020 6:35:16 AM PDT by 1Old Pro (#openupstateny)
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