MADISON, Wis. — Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court are trying to decide whether the state Department of Health Services can order capacity restrictions on businesses, something the DHS secretary has shown interest in doing again.
That decision depends on the ruling in a case justices heard on Thursday.
The Tavern League wants the court to apply the same logic as the ruling that tossed the Safer at Home order in May, which said the department needed to submit a rule to the legislature to close businesses.
Liberal justices suggested there may be room in that decision to allow for indoor gathering restrictions, as the decision did allow the department to close schools.
Justice Brian Hagedorn – who sided against the majority in the Safer at Home ruling – suggested the decision on Safer at Home would serve as a precedent in this case.
“We have a decision in this court that directly addresses the same fact scenario, and to turn on that now would be to undercut many of the principles that we let out as the way we conduct ourselves as an institution,” he said.
This case is in a way moot, since the order has expired, but according to the DOJ’S filing in this case, the DHS secretary designee wants to issue another indoor gathering limit, but she wants to see what the law will allow first.
There is no timeline for a ruling.
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