The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to lift an executive order from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf that mandated the closure of all businesses in the state deemed nonessential as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, CBS News reported.
A group of businesses and other entities in the state asked the high court last week to block enforcement of Wolf’s executive order, which was issued March 19 in response to the coronavirus. There were no noted dissents.
The Pennsylvania businesses argued on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and filed an emergency request. The Court sided with Wolf.
The businesses then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the lower court’s decision.
“The executive order and similar orders by governors across the country is doing substantial, unprecedented damage to the economy,” the group wrote in its request to the high court.
The ruling from the lower court, they added, “permits the continued closure of petitioners and tens of thousands of other businesses across Pennsylvania and as such constitutes severe, immediate and ongoing deprivation of their rights under the U.S. Constitution.”
Under Wolf’s order, businesses and entities that are non-life-sustaining were ordered to temporarily close their doors, though the state created a waiver process through which entities could seek an exemption. Those that were allowed to stay open were required to comply with social distancing and other mitigation measures.
Governors of nearly all 50 states have issued orders requiring nonessential businesses to close and urging residents to severely limit their activities. Legal challenges to the orders, however, have begun to crop up.
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Residents of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and other cities in the state have protested, but the majority, according to polls, still support closing down everything. That’s despite the fact that many areas of the state have few cases.
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