Judge rules shutdown orders unconstitutional

By PAULA REED WARD

Trib Total Media

A federal judge in Pittsburgh Monday found that orders issued by Gov. Tom Wolf restricting the size of gatherings and closing non-essential businesses to protect against the spread of COVID-19 were unconstitutional.

In a statement, Wolf said his office will seek an immediate stay to halt the order and file an appeal.

U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV wrote in his 66-page opinion that even though the actions taken in the spring by Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine were laudable, they violated the First Amendment right to freedom of assembly, and the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“It’s a complete and total victory for the counties, the businesses and the representatives,” said Attorney Thomas W. King III, who represented the plaintiffs in the case. “You can’t order the entire population of Pennsylvania to stay at home.”

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, which represented the defendants in the case, did not immediately return a request for comment.

The plaintiffs in the case included seven businesses and their owners, state Reps. Mike Kelly, Daryl Metcalfe, Marci Mustello and Tim Bonner, as well as Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties.

“I’m thrilled that the county participated and I’m elated that our constitutional rights were upheld,” Washington County Commission Chair Diana Irey Vaughan said.

The judge dismissed the counties from the suit because they are government entities and do not have constitutional rights. Irey Vaughan said the counties knew that would be a possibility, which is why they sought businesses and political candidates to join the suit. Irey Vaughan said without the counties, the case wouldn’t have existed at all.

“It was the counties that banded together to take the initiative,” she said. “Even though we had no standing in the case, we were essential to the case. This is history being made.”

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