"Wisconsin Supreme Court Declares Governor's Mask Mandate Is 'Unlawful'"

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://lawandcrime.com/covid-19-pandemic/wisconsin-supreme-court-declares-governors-mask-mandate-is-unlawful/

The Wisconsin Supreme Court handed Gov. Tony Evers (D) a 4-3 loss on Wednesday on the issue of the state’s mask mandate, finding that three of the governor’s executive orders were “unlawful.”

Brian Hagedorn, a conservative justice who was attacked by Donald Trump in December for refusing to disturb the 2020 election results in Wisconsin, delivered the majority opinion of the court. He was joined by Justices Patience Roggensack, Annette Ziegler and Rebecca Grassl Bradley. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley dissented and was joined by Justices Jill Karofsky and Rebecca Dallet.

“Wisconsin Stat. § 323.10 specifies that no state of emergency may last longer than 60 days unless it ‘is extended by joint resolution of the legislature,’ and that the legislature may cut short a state of emergency by joint resolution. The statute contemplates that the power to end and to refuse to extend a state of emergency resides with the legislature even when the underlying occurrence creating the emergency remains a threat,” Hagedorn wrote. “Pursuant to this straightforward statutory language, the governor may not deploy his emergency powers by issuing new states of emergency for the same statutory occurrence.”

The majority’s conclusion was that Evers ran afoul of Wisconsin law by declaring successive states of emergency and relying on those declarations to put the mask mandate in place, among other restrictions:

Read according to its plain language, in context, along with surrounding statutes, and consistent with its purpose, the best reading of Wis. Stat. § 323.10 is that it provides the governor the authority to declare a state of emergency related to public health when the conditions for a public health emergency are satisfied. But when later relying on the same enabling condition, the governor is subject to the time limits explicitly prescribed by statute. Therefore, we declare that Executive Orders #82 and #90——both of which declare a public health emergency in response to COVID-19——were unlawful under Wis. Stat. § 323.10.

We also received a motion and briefing on the lawfulness of Executive Order #105. Based on the legislature’s revocation of Executive Order #104, a power specifically granted to the legislature in Wis. Stat. § 323.10, we declare Executive Order #105 unlawful as well.

*snip*

[Fullduplexxx]

1. Cons want to ruin the recovery .

They fight the mask mandate want to reopen everything while shouting the " THE BORDERS ARE OPEN " trying to get as many as they can to the border . So that then they can point to these things and say " SEE LOOK AT ALL THIS CHAOS... DEMS FAULT"

[LaMouffette]

2. We need a federal mask mandate. Don't know if that's possible, but we need it.

[LakeArenal]

3. Wis legislature is corrupt Russian agents.

[lagomorph777]

4. Bad news for WI and the rest of us.

[CaptainTruth]

5. This looks like another case (like the MN rape conviction ruling)...

...where the law is clear & the court correctly interpreted the law, but a lot of folks are going to misunderstand the ruling & go on misguided rants against the court, & then make no effort to do anything to change the law.

It gets tiring.

[MichMan]

7. This

[malaise]

6. Did they meet in person or by Zoom?

I am curious