Pennsylvania Businesses Ask Supreme Court to Intervene, Overrule Gov. Wolf’s Stay-at-Home Order

A group of Pennsylvania businesses, alongside Republican state House candidate Danny DeVito, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and overrule Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) stay-at-home order closing businesses deemed “nonessential,” filing the request on Monday.

DeVito’s campaign filed the request on Monday alongside “realtor Kathy Gregory, ‘B and J’ laundry, Blueberry Hill golf course and Caledonia Land Company,” according to reports. They contend that Wolf’s order is “continuing to cause irreparable harm to the Petitioners and all those businesses and entities in the same non-life- sustaining classification as Petitioners,” per the court filing.

If the Supreme Court fails to intervene “tens of thousands of other businesses may not be able to recover from the severe financial distress caused by the Order,” the petitioners warned.

The request follows the state’s Supreme Court rejecting a challenge to Wolf’s order.

The governor has outlined his intention of implementing a “regional, sector-based approach” to reopening the state but has not issued a hard timeline.

“Unfortunately, we cannot flip a switch and reopen the commonwealth. There’s not going to be one big day,” Wolf said. “We need to be smart and make data-driven decisions.”

The state has largely remained in its “red phase” of reopening, which only allows businesses deemed “life-sustaining” to operate and leaves stay-at-home orders in place — orders which he has referred to as “the most prudent option to stop the spread of COVID-19 across our commonwealth.”

Pennsylvania residents flocked to the State Capitol in Harrisburg last week to protest the governor’s orders.

“Six weeks, no work and no income,” Denisse Marquez, a licensed esthetician who attended the protest, told Breitbart News.

“Last time I checked, you got a job, you pay taxes — you’re essential,” Marquez said.

“And that’s why I’m over here. I’m pissed off. I’ve got my two kids. We’re not in a communist country, we’re in the United States of America, and I’m here willing to die for my children’s freedom,” she added.

Others at the protest said Wolf “absolutely exceeded his authority” and referred to him as a “tyrant.”

“China may have started this whole thing, but right now I’m not worried about the coronavirus. I’m worried about the hype surrounding the coronavirus,” Joel Saint, a pastor who attended the protest, told Breitbart News. “I’m worried about all the rights that have been taken away from people because of the coronavirus.”

“I’m not concentrating on China right now. I’m concentrating on the US of A and Gov. Wolf, who are overreacting, overreaching, and destroying their neighbors,” he added.