A federal judge appointed by President Trump overruled the Pennsylvania governor over his draconian COV regulations.
Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s gathering restrictions and shutdowns of non-essential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic were unconstitutional, according to U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV, the Daily Caller reported.
He ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs, originally the counties of Washington, Butler, Greene and Fayette, along with multiple Republican lawmakers, including Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly.
The judge dismissed the county governments from the case.
Kelly, Republican State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, and various businesses including hair salons and drive-in theaters won the favorable ruling.
Stickman noted in the ruling that while the Wolf administration’s actions “were undertaken with the good intention of addressing a public health emergency,” that “even in an emergency, the authority of government is not unfettered.”
FIRST AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT VIOLATIONS
He determined that the state’s gathering limits violated the right of assembly enshrined in the First Amendment, and the stay-at-home and business closures violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The business closure components of the orders also violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which requires the state to govern impartially and treat individuals in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances, the judge’s ruling said.
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“The liberties protected by the Constitution are not fair-weather freedoms — in place when times are good but able to be cast aside in times of trouble,” Stickman wrote according to WTAE.
“There is no question that this country has faced, and will face, emergencies of every sort. But the solution to a national crisis can never be permitted to supersede the commitment to individual liberty that stands as the foundation of the American experiment. 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.”
Finally, a judge who cares about the Constitution. Will it stand? We can’t even count on the Supreme Court to stand by the Constitution.
