Courts declare state lockdown orders unconstitutional

The following article was written by Ethan Young for the American Institute for Economic Research and was published last October 7, 2020.

In this article, Young looks at three states where courts have declared lockdowns to be unconstitutional – Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. He looks at the different situations of each state to dissect how courts ruled in favor of the lifting of lockdown orders.

In Michigan, the court struck down the governor’s capacity to exercise power without legislative oversight. Wisconsin followed the same reasoning as that of Michigan, with the courts ruling that the governor’s attempt to grant herself “limitless power to respond to the crisis without any form of accountability…[is] a clear violation of the separation of powers…put in place to prevent tyranny’.

Pennsylvania is a unique case because its policies were struck down by a federal court, not a state court like in Michigan and Wisconsin. Moreover, the ruling was based not on a separation of powers argument, but more on an individual rights case. The court also stated that the policies were overly broad and were already impeding individual rights. “Such policies have no logical foundation and reek of political favoritism. The court upheld the fact that such practices have no place in America”.

Editor’s Note: Though written back in October last year, this article is still relevant because it shows us the role of citizens in policing the government. The only reason why the court had to rule in these three states is that citizens (or citizens who are part of bigger organizations) decided to fight back [Our responsibility of safeguarding our countries against tyranny is expounded further in the article Toronto police question unconstitutional public health measures].

There is an abundance of evidence that will enable us to get lockdowns lifted. What we need now are people who are willing to assert their rights, people who understand their unique role in keeping societies in order. People need to put their governments in their right place. Governments have no right to mandate anything that relates to personal choices such as visiting family members, attending church, or vaccinating. Most especially, it is the government’s responsibility to prove the rationality of their decisions as the policies they make must represent the welfare of its people. It is not our responsibility as citizens of our countries, to prove that we are right and the government is wrong.