Update:
Harrisburg, Pa – A lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania seeks to end Governor Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order. The plaintiffs allege that the Governor’s quarantine order is violating their Freedom of Religion, among other violations.
Attorney Marc Scaringi argues that Governor Wolf’s unauthorized use of the Disease Prevention and Control Law is denying Pennsylvanians of their civil rights by illegally quarantining healthy citizens.
In the case of a communicable disease such as COVID-19, the Disease Prevention and Control Law empowers the Governor thru his Secretary of Health to quarantine or take other action against persons suspected of being infected with, or a carrier of, or likely to have been exposed to a communicable disease; not private businesses and religious institutions with no known COVID-19 exposure.
Governor Wolf is using the power of the Emergency Management Services Act to issue board ranging orders based on circumstances well outside of the scope of natural disasters that are legally included in the act.
Recent rulings on similar cases across the nation have bolstered the claims made against Governor Wolf by citizens of Pennsylvania.
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against the statewide shelter-in-place order of Gov. Tony Evers because it goes beyond the limits of their Disease Act.
A U.S. District Court judge on Saturday issued a restraining order against part of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home order, saying churches across the state can now hold indoor services, regardless of COVID-19 health risks.
In Saturday’s ruling, the court said, in part: “There is no pandemic exception to the Constitution of the United States or the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their Free Exercise claim concerning the assembly for religious worship provisions in Executive Order 138, that they will suffer irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order, that the equities tip in their favor, and that a temporary restraining order is in the public interest. Thus, having considered the entire record and governing law, the court grants plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order.”
Public outrage over the excessive and unconstitutional state lockdowns has been inflamed by the revelation that the heralded model governors have largely used to guide their coronavirus policies is “totally unreliable,” according to experts.
Following Wednesday’s ruling, Scaringi posted quotes of the Wisconsin Concurring Justice, mentioning that his same arguments to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court were rejected. Scaringi jokes that he is ready to move to Wisconsin, but that could change following Judge Jones’ ruling on Monday.
Attorney Joshua Prince won a Second Amendment case in front of Judge Jones, and commented on Marc’s post that Jones is a good judge to pull in this case.
Harrisburg100 