CHALLENGE TO PA GOV WOLF'S POWERS GAINS SUPPORT FROM BUSINESSES

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CHALLENGE TO PA GOV WOLF'S POWERS GAINS SUPPORT FROM BUSINESSES

Business coalition files amicus brief supporting effort to rein in emergency powers

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania/December 15, 2021 – Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s COVID lockdown orders are on trial and more businesses are getting on board with the effort to overturn them. The Amistad Project’s legal challenge against the overuse of emergency police powers got a vote of confidence when the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) filed an Amicus Curiae brief urging the United States Supreme Court to overturn the Third Circuit’s ruling of mootness in the case against the Pennsylvania governor.

“The issue of emergency powers is still very relevant today, with governors continuing to threaten unilateral and arbitrary lockdowns in response to each new variant of the novel coronavirus,” said Phill Kline, director of The Amistad Project. “The Supreme Court needs to inject itself into this conversation and declare that violations of individual rights cannot be ignored simply because a governor has temporarily stopped abusing police powers.”

In 2020, federal judge William Stickman IV issued a momentous ruling in a case brought by The Amistad Project, striking down Gov. Wolf’s use of emergency powers and declaring that they violated First Amendment rights and other important individual liberties. Even though Wolf had relaxed his orders by the time of the ruling, Stickman pointed out that he would be able to reinstate the orders at any time without a court ruling deeming them unconstitutional.

Nonetheless, the Third Circuit subsequently vacated the judgment and declared the issue moot on the grounds that Wolf had voluntarily rescinded the orders. The Amistad Project is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule that decision and send the issue back to the Third Circuit, arguing that such “voluntary cessation” represents a recognized exception to mootness doctrine, and that a ruling affirming the unconstitutionality of Wolf’s orders is necessary to prevent future infringements on individual liberties.

The NJBIA brief points out that the case addresses “important constitutional issues that are likely to reoccur,” adding that a Supreme Court ruling would establish a definitive test that lower courts all over the country could use when evaluating constantly-evolving emergency orders.

For more information about The Amistad Project, please visit www.theamistadproject.org.

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