Name: Wisconsin Supreme Court Coronavirus Order Hearing Was Absurd
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Wisconsin Supreme Court Coronavirus Order Hearing Was Absurd

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One of the curious benefits of self-quarantine is the fact that we get to hear and see parts of our government operating that, ordinarily, would require citizens to haul their lazy hindquarters up to various capitols and courthouses. This is in addition to CSPAN’s usual coverage of what’s goin’ down in Congress. (Hi, John Ratcliffe. , but you are qualified now? What happened? Did you un-fabricate your resume? America is keen to know.) The Supreme Court is allowing oral arguments to be broadcast. (This already has allowed interested citizens to hear Justice Clarence Thomas actually ask a question during a session of the court. This is the judicial equivalent of Halley’s Comet.) On Tuesday, the Court was scheduled to hear yet another challenge to the administration’s new expansive exemptions from the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that, for example, Catholic employers include contraception coverage for their Presbyterian janitors. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg joined in from her hospital room at Johns Hopkins. Baller.Also on Tuesday, I dropped in for the oral arguments in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where the justices were hearing a challenge to Governor Tony Evers’s stay-at-home order brought by the Republicans in that state’s preposterously gerrymandered legislature. This was a very compelling theater of the absurd. The main center-ring attraction was Justice Rebecca Bradley, whose place on the court is part of the enduring legacy of former governor Scott Walker. In discussing the governor’s order, as assistant attorney general Colin Roth appeared to be rethinking his career choice, Bradley went full Glenn Beck. Never go full Glenn Beck."My question for you is where in the Constitution did the people of Wisconsin confer authority on a single unelected Cabinet secretary to compel almost six million people to stay at home and close their businesses and face imprisonment if they don't comply with no input from the legislature without the consent of the people? Isn't it the very definition of tyranny for one person to order people to be imprisoned for going to work?"She continued, boldly exploring the experimental side of Bad Historical Analogy Theater."I'll direct your attention to another time in history, in, where the (Supreme Court) said the need for action was great and time was short and that justified, and I'm quoting, 'assembling together and placing under guard all those of Japanese ancestry' in assembly centers during World War II. Could the secretary under this broad delegation of legislative power or legislative-like power order people out of their homes into centers where are they are properly social distanced in order to combat the pandemic? The point of my question is what are the limits, constitutional or statutory? There have to be some, don't there, counsel?”Daniel KellyOther highlights included the participation of Justice Daniel Kelly, the guy who was turfed out in the recent election that was forced upon the citizens of Wisconsin, and who apparently is determined to go out as an aggrieved child. Kelly repeatedly interrupted Justice Rebecca Mallet and, when she called him on it, referred to her as “Mrs. Mallet,” denying her the title of office that he’ll be losing himself very soon. And, just when you were thinking that things were spinning out of control, the woman with the greatest name in American politics, Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, asserted her prerogative to intervene. And...wow. "(The surge) was due to the meatpacking — that's where Brown County got the flare. It wasn't just the regular folks in Brown County.”Those embattled “regular folks.” Who’s standing up for them against the meatpackers? This all has been a good look at, well, how the sausage gets made.Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has his three children.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.&nbsp;Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below

One of the curious benefits of self-quarantine is the fact that we get to hear and see parts of our government operating that, ordinarily, would require citizens to haul their lazy hindquarters up to various capitols and courthouses. This is in addition to CSPAN’s usual coverage of what’s goin’ down in Congress. (Hi, John Ratcliffe. , but you are qualified now? What happened? Did you un-fabricate your resume? America is keen to know.) The Supreme Court is allowing oral arguments to be broadcast. (This already has allowed interested citizens to hear Justice Clarence Thomas actually ask a...

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Charles P. Pierce is a writer-at-large for Esquire and his work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the LA Times Magazine, the Nation, the Atlantic, Sports Illustrated and The Chicago Tribune, among others.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Coronavirus Order Hearing Was Absurd

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