Authored by Dean R. Dietrich
As you know, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down Emergency Order No. 28 (except as it applies to school districts and school buildings). The Court held that “Palm’s Emergency Order No. 28 is declared unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable.” In particular, the Court stated that it concludes “that Palm’s Order confining all people to their homes, forbidding travel and closing businesses exceeded the statutory authority of Wis. Stat. Section 252.02, upon which Palm claims to rely.” The essence of the Court decision is that the Emergency Order No. 28 must be considered a “rule” and may only be adopted after following particular statutory procedures for the issuance of an emergency rule.
What does this really mean? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is not particularly clear. A number of Counties and Cities have issued their own Emergency Order and each of those Orders are different and contain different requirements. Many other Counties and Cities have indicated that they will not take specific action and will wait for guidance from someone. The someone may be the Legislature/Governor who supposedly will be meeting over the next several days to attempt to reach an agreement on an appropriate Emergency Order for the entire state. The Court implies that its decision is not effective until the end of the day on May 20; however, a number of businesses have begun reopening and conducting business as usual. The impact of all of this is unclear.
For now, the best strategy is to continue to follow the requirements of Emergency Order No. 28 until May 20 and see if additional guidance comes from the State or local government units.
If you have questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Dean R. Dietrich
715-845-9401
dietrich@dvlawgroup.com
