Washington Post

May 14, 2020

 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority sided with Republican legislators and struck down on Wednesday the decision by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers's administration to extend a stay-at-home order intended to quell the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The 4-3 decision limits Evers's ability to make statewide rules during emergencies such as a global pandemic, instead requiring him to work with the state legislature on how the state should handle the outbreak.

The justices wrote that the court was not challenging the governor's power to declare emergencies, "but in the case of a pandemic, which lasts month after month, the Governor cannot rely on emergency powers indefinitely."