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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: Paleo Pete

Thank you very much for a direct link to the decision. It’s always advisable to go to the primary documents.


61 posted on 09/15/2020 9:49:45 AM PDT by zeugma (Stop deluding yourself that America is still a free country.)
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To: CodeToad
Wolf's been extending it.....

They've recently passed a bill so that no other Gov. can extend this SOE beyond 30 days without their body authorizing this....so it stops with Wolf.

62 posted on 09/15/2020 9:52:57 AM PDT by caww (The Left are in war mode to regain power...NOT have an election.)
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To: silent majority rising

Attorney Thomas W. King III told reporters after it was issued, that the current pandemic-related restrictions in place in the state such as limitations on the size of gatherings CANNOT BE ENFORCED!


63 posted on 09/15/2020 9:58:49 AM PDT by caww (The Left are in war mode to regain power...NOT have an election.)
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To: cotton1706

Governor Short Stack and his tranny sidekick have opened the door to state bankruptcy with this ruling. How many hundreds of businesses and thousand of jobs were lost by this tinpot’s self-grandeur? They’ll be litigating lawsuits until our grnadchildren are dead. Now he and his acolytes are doubling down by intoducing a bill making failure to wear a mask a misdemeanor. It’s nigh time to get out the torches and pitchfolks, literally if necessary.


64 posted on 09/15/2020 12:09:03 PM PDT by Viking2002 (When aliens fly past Earth, they probably lock their doors.)
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To: cuban leaf
Out of curiosity, what business is NOT life sustaining?

Politician. Not necessarily a business, but certainly an occupation.

65 posted on 09/22/2020 6:57:42 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: cotton1706
"There's  nothing wrong with the air!"
 

 
One of these days; a few thousand Richard Dreyfuss types are going to remove their masks...

66 posted on 09/25/2020 4:44:59 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: cuban leaf
To some that may not seem like much, but I live in the land of $1000 mortgage payments and $250 a year property taxes.

I says to myself; "This guy MUST be a fellow Hoosier!"


Then I saw your Hummer with the Illinois plate on your homepage.

Then I says to myself; "He CAN'T be living THERE!"


Then I clicked on your bugout info and found all the Kentucky home pictures.

Then I sez to myself; "This is more like it! Living here looks like a 3 hour drive to ANYWHERE!"

LOL

67 posted on 09/25/2020 5:16:24 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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