Wisconsin’s governor, a Democrat, “did not have the authority to impose capacity limits on restaurants, bars or other businesses without the approval of the Legislature,” the state’s GOP-controlled supreme court ruled on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Read story here.
The Hill added, “It is unlikely the Evers would have gotten approval from the Republican-controlled legislature, which has fought all his efforts to implement mitigation measures to control the virus.” It also could have added that Wisconsin’s voters split 53%-45% in favor of Democratic assembly candidates in 2020, but Republicans ended up with two-thirds of the seats because of extreme gerrymandering.
The Wisconsin supreme court’s 5-4 conservative majority had previously overruled other efforts to keep Wisconsin residents safe during the pandemic.
Roughly 1 of every 10 Wisconsin residents have been infected by Covid-19, and so far 6,690 have died (data here); nationally, the U.S. has a similar infection rate — over 31 million confirmed cases — and is approaching 600,000 deaths (data here).
Despite that, Republicans across the country, including in Wisconsin, have bitterly fought against common-sense efforts to defeat the deadly virus. They are anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers, have threatened the lives of public officials who implemented health measures, have assaulted lowly store employees for simply asking them to wear a mask in the store. They’ve been thrown off airplanes for refusing to do so.
Meanwhile, elected Republican officials have tried to force workers to work in unsafe conditions, have pushed for reopening businesses and schools before it’s safe to do so. They’ve opposed unemployment benefits and funding for states, local governments, and schools. In Texas the Republican lieutenant governor even publicly argued that senior citizens should be willing to sacrifice their lives to save the economy (that story here).
Although let’s be clear about something: It’s not the economy they want to save, but business profits, and the GOP is the party of business owners. This is about lining their pockets at the expense of other people’s lives and health. They know what they’re doing; these Republican politicians aren’t stupid, they know how dangerous this virus is. They simply have other priorities than saving your life.
Photo: A Wisconsin bar, April 2021. This isn’t safe. (Story here)
The courts role is not about saving lives. Its role is to apply the state and US constitution and law. There are no special Corvid or disease rules in the US constitution, and likely none in the Wisconsin State Constitution. Courts must apply the Constitution as it is written. Health does not invalidate the Bill of Rights, or freedoms and liberties citizens enjoy.
Nothing in the U.S. or Wisconsin constitutions authorizes cops to write traffic tickets, either. But that doesn’t mean they can’t. If you’re arguing that government can’t protect public health, that’s ridiculous.