The self-perpetuating “emergency.”
Thus endeth Tony Evers’ end run around the Wisconsin statute and the state constitution. In a narrow 4-3 decision, the state supreme court ended Evers’ efforts to keep issuing emergency declarations in order to maintain control of COVID-19 policies and enforcement. That means the state’s mask mandate will end immediately, unless Evers can convince the legislature to take it back up: The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate, ruling that the Democrat exceeded his authority by unilaterally extending the mandate for months through multiple emergency orders. The 4-3 ruling from the conservative-controlled court is the latest legal blow to attempts by Evers to control the coronavirus. It comes after Republicans in the Legislature voted to repeal the mask mandate in February, only to see Evers quickly re-issue it. The court last May struck down Evers’ “safer at home” order, saying that his health secretary did not have the authority for such an order. Evers’ attempts to limit capacity in bars, restaurants and other indoor places were also blocked by a state appeals court in October. In the latest case, the court ruled that any public health emergency issued by Evers is valid for just 60 days and can’t be extended without legislative approval. Jason Calvi highlights the reasoning behind this decision. The statute grants governors 60 days of authority to issue and enforce rules in an emergency, not an unlimited amount of time.
