Judge declines to block mask order

A judge declined Monday to temporarily block Gov. Tony Evers’ most recent public health emergency over COVID-19, allowing the statewide indoor mask mandate to remain in effect.

St. Croix County Judge Michael Waterman denied the request for a temporary injunction requested by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and three western Wisconsin residents.

Waterman wrote that nothing in state law bars the governor from declaring successive states of emergency. While a 60-day limit on emergencies provides an “important check against run-away executive power,” it does not prevent the governor from issuing a new order when emergency conditions continue to exist, he said.

And Waterman noted that the plaintiffs in the case are three private citizens seeking “redress for injuries” they’ve suffered, but the requested injunction goes beyond their interests.

“If granted, the temporary injunction will affect every person in Wisconsin by a judicial act that usurps the governor’s power to declare a state of emergency and the Legislature’s power to end one,” he wrote. “The Legislature can end the state of emergency at anytime, but so far, it has declined to do so. As the statewide representative body of the citizens of Wisconsin, the Legislature’s inaction is relevant and it weighs against judicial intervention, especially when the requested intervention will have statewide impact.”

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty argued in court last Monday that the governor can’t declare multiple emergencies over the same crisis. Evers’ administration argued that circumstances surrounding the pandemic have changed.

Evers has declared three public health emergencies relating to COVID-19.

Spokespeople for Evers and the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty did not immediately return requests for comment.