Earlier this week, Federal Judge William S. Stickman ruled that it was unconstitutional for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration to close and provide other directives to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stickman said that Gov. Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine “crossed the lines” established by the U.S. Constitution. According to an article from the Pittsburgh Business Times, Stickman “ruled limits on gatherings issued by the Wolf administration violated the First Amendment right of assembly and stay-home and business closures imposed in the early parts of the pandemic, violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
American Pastors Network (APN) and Pennsylvania Pastors Network (PPN) last month sent an open letter to all three branches of state government and wrote a resolution to accompany it. APN President Sam Rohrer, a nine-term state representative, has called on pastors to lead the citizens of Pennsylvania in their shared responsibility to Restore the Law.
Rohrer said in reaction to the ruling, “It underscores not only the accuracy, but the content of our letter and resolution, and why the legislature must declare the July 1, 2020, Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision (regarding HR 836) to be ‘null and void and without authority.’ Judge Stickman’s decision gives overwhelming support to the Legislature, but it does not re-establish the Legislature’s constitutional authority usurped by our Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Wolf led Executive Branch.
“The judge’s decision confirms the identification of the problem as lawlessness and by extension the resultant serious unbalancing of the delicate balance of power in our Commonwealth—the same as we are seeing all across America. This usurping of authority and acting outside the law initiated by the Wolf-led Executive Branch and then enabled by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was fully detailed in our Open Letter and Resolution,” Rohrer continued. “No citizen, though, nor Judicial Branch action can reestablish the constitutional balance of power or restore the law. This is why we called upon the Legislature and we call now again on the Pennsylvania General Assembly to move swiftly and boldly to ‘restore the Law’ as called out in our Open Letter and Resolution. While Judge Stickman identified the problem, he cannot prescribe the solution. We call on the Legislature to do what only they can do to now ‘restore the law.'”
All people are invited to learn about APN’s open letter and resolution at RestoreTheLaw.org. {eoa}
Sam Rohrer co-hosts and along with guests explore topics like these on APN’s popular, live, daily radio program Stand in the Gap Today. Rohrer also hosts the daily short radio feature Stand in the Gap Minute, and “best of” shows from the week are broadcast on Stand in the Gap Weekend. Likewise, Stand in the Gap TV considers transcending complex and divisive cultural
See an error in this article?
To contact us or to submit an article
