On September 14, 2020, a federal court in Pennsylvania ruled that Governor Tom Wolf's emergency orders relating to the COVID-19 pandemic are unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.1 Plaintiffs-a group of counties, elected public officials and businesses-challenged several of the governor's COVID-19 orders requiring numeric limitations on gatherings of individuals, closures of nonlife-sustaining businesses and directing Pennsylvanians to stay at home. Judge William S. Stickman IV of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled in the plaintiffs' favor, declaring that portions of the challenged orders violate the United States Constitution.
On July 15, 2020, Governor Wolf had ordered several restrictions on nonlife-sustaining businesses, such as restaurants, bars, nightclubs, private catered events and other outdoor events.2 The restrictions provided for a numeric limitation of 25 people for indoor gatherings and 250 people for outdoor gatherings.3 Certain businesses, such as nightclubs, were ordered to cease operations while others, such as restaurants, had capacity limits placed on them should they continue to operate.4 The governor also continued to place in effect a stay-at-home order.
Judge Stickman struck down significant portions of the governor's orders on the grounds that they violated the United States Constitution. In so doing, he first implicitly admonished the United States Supreme Court by explicitly rejecting its longstanding precedent that states are afforded deference in promulgating regulations during public health emergencies. The Supreme Court has never...
