Federal court judge orders stay of Stickman order in case against Wolf, Levine
The chief judge of the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a stay of the judgment against Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary of health, in a case brought by four Southwestern Pennsylvania counties, Republican politicians and the owners of several businesses.
Measures limiting outdoor crowd sizes to 250 people will go back in effect. Restaurant capacity, previously 25 %, has been raised to 50 % and there are other restrictions governing indoor events.
“I applaud the Third Circuit decision,” Wolf said Thursday at a live-streamed Democratic campaign event in Malvern, Chester County.
“The gathering limits are back in place. We have to recognize a virus is out of our hands.
“We’re in tough territory.”
The governor anticipates making an announcement on attendance at high school football games, and he asked people to “be realistic,” while noting he has changed his mind about many things as more is learned about the novel coronavirus.
Wolf and Levine appealed the judgment handed down Sept. 14 by a federal judge in Pittsburgh, and in granting the stay Thursday afternoon, Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith ordered that his stay remain in place pending appeal.
Smith is also allowing Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund to file friend-of-the-court briefs opposing the motion for a stay.
Federal Judge William S. Stickman IV dismissed Washington, Greene, Fayette and Butler counties from the suit, but their names are still listed on the court docket.
Greene County Commission Chairman Mike Belding wrote in response to a request for comment, “One thing you learn working in government is to be patient.
“Nothing progresses as quickly or predictably as you desire. I still believe, at the end of this process, it will hold that Gov. Wolf trampled the constitutional rights of Commonwealth citizens and businesses.”
Stickman found Wolf, a Democrat, and Levine violated the constitutional rights of businesses by issuing shutdown orders during the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic and by granting waivers to some companies but not others.
The judge sitting in Pittsburgh also found that political candidates’ rights were violated because they were hindered from campaigning and holding fundraisers.
Those who brought suit in U.S. District Court opposed the governor’s and health secretary’s motion for the stay.
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Staff Writer Scott Beveridge contributed to this story.