The court declared that proper rule-making procedures were not followed in the issuance
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has overruled the stay-at-home order issued by the Department of Health Services, putting an end to the state-wide lockdown that began in March.
The American Bar Association Journal reported that the court announced the decision on Wednesday after Republican lawmakers initiated a suit against the department arguing that the extension of the lockdown period by Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm was not within the scope of the emergency powers granted to her.
The legislators declared that Palm failed to follow emergency rule-making procedures, making the mandate and imposing related penalties without securing the approval of lawmakers.
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Chief Justice Patience Roggensack said that the court “[does] not conclude that Palm was without any power to act in the face of this pandemic. However, Palm must follow the law that is applicable to state-wide emergencies.”
Palm’s emergency order was considered a rule and was therefore “subject to statutory emergency rulemaking procedures established by the legislature.”
However, the ruling is not a unanimous one, being a 4-3 decision.
“We are facing a unique public health crisis the likes of which few among us have ever seen,” Justice Brian Hagedorn said in a dissenting opinion. “The people have not empowered this court to step in and impose our wisdom on proper governance during this pandemic; they left that to the legislative and executive branches.”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers told The Chicago Tribune that he would be coordinating with the Republican lawmakers in developing new laws to combat the spread of COVID-19. However, he said that the process could take weeks.
The Tribune reported that since the lockdown mandate was overturned, a number of bars in the state had reopened with limited imposition of social distancing guidelines.