Sawyer County judge John M. Yackel has temporarily blocked Gov. Tony Evers administration's latest attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 through a capacity limit on indoor public gatherings.
The capacity limit was established on Oct. 6 when Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andrea Palm issued an emergency order to take effect Oct. 8. The order limits indoor gatherings in places like restaurants, bars and retail stores to 25% of capacity.
The Tavern League of Wisconsin, Sawyer County Tavern League and the Flambeau Forest Inn located in the village of Winter, Wis., filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, Oct. 13, challenging the emergency order on Tuesday.
Judge Yackel sided with the Tavern League on this morning, putting a temporary hold on the emergency order, and set a court date for Monday, Oct. 19. Attorneys representing DHS will need to defend the order to have it reinstated.
The Tavern League's lawsuit argues the court should throw out the emergency order because it wasn't created through the emergency rulemaking process. That process requires a 10 day waiting period for public comment and also requires approval from state legislators.
GOP legislative leaders have no plan of action to help residents and businesses get through the pandemic. Instead, they've played the blame game and sat on their hands.
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The Evers administration argues it can still declare emergency orders because the state of the pandemic has changed drastically. The changing conditions warrant further action.
After reviewing the emergency order last week, the Milwaukee Health Department announced it would continue to enforce its own occupancy restrictions because the Moving Milwaukee Forward Safely Plan is more restrictive than the state's order. Moving Milwaukee Forward Safely is a phased approach at combating the pandemic. In the city's plan, restaurants and bars need to submit a rigorous safety plan in order to serve dine-in customers indoors.
