Great news - from Pittsburgh station WTAE:
Judge: Pennsylvania's pandemic restrictions unconstitutional
A federal judge in Pittsburgh says Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine had good intentions to protect people from the coronavirus but their orders went too far. The judge ruled in a court order that Wolf's closing of "non-life-sustaining" businesses and restrictions on gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic were unconstitutional.
"You can't tell 13 million Pennsylvanians that they have to stay home. That's not America. It never was. That order was horrible," Thomas W. King, III, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told Pittsburgh's Action News 4.
Judge William Stickman IV ruled that the state-posed limits on gatherings violated the First Amendment and the stay-at-home and business-closing orders violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
And some great news:
Stickman, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote in his ruling that the Wolf administration's pandemic policies have been overreaching, arbitrary and violated citizens' constitutional rights.
Stickman ruled in favor of individual and business plaintiffs, and he dismissed the county governments from the case. Individuals who won the favorable ruling include U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa.; state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler; and various businesses including hair salons and the Starlight Drive-In.
"This ruling stands for the proposition that even in a pandemic, the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania do not forfeit their constitutionally protected rights,\" Thomas E. Breth, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told Pittsburgh's Action News 4.
Elections have consequences - President Trump has been appointing some excellent judges.
Now if only Washington State would do the same. A lot of people are getting very tired of this. I have a facial diaper that reads: "My governor is an idiot" and I get a lot of positive comments when I go anywhere.
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