Rachel Levine quietly permitted a Carlisle car show and flea market to host 20,000 people, which is 100 times the Wolf administration's approved limit. In another violation of its own orders, Health Secretary Dr. “However, the record unequivocally shows that (the Wolf administration has) permitted protests, and that the governor participated in a protest which exceeded the limitation set forth in his order, and did not comply with other restrictions mandating social distancing and mask wearing.” “The plain language of the orders makes no exception for protests,” Judge Stickman writes. It’s a mandate repeatedly violated by the Wolf administration, most notably with public protests. In events as severe as the 1918 Spanish Flu, the CDC recommends basic hygiene, routine cleaning and “voluntary home isolation of ill persons.”Īnother alleged data-driven decision is the administration’s limiting the size of public gatherings. Turning to authentic science, rather than political science, the judge cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and its public guidance protocols, which doesn’t list population lockdowns as a means to controlling the spread of disease. He writes: “An examination of the history of mitigation efforts in response to the Spanish Flu reveals that nothing remotely approximating lockdowns were imposed.” of Health.īoateng testified that “much of the same mitigation steps were taken then, the closing of bars, saloons, cancellation of vaudeville shows, as they called them, and cabarets, the prohibition of large events.” The lockdowns also reflected what Pennsylvania did during the 1918 Spanish Flu, the deadliest pandemic in American history, according to testimony from Sarah Boateng, executive deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. It wasn’t based on “science,” but by following the lead of other states.
The brain trust decided things by “consensus,” and their chief consensus was to “reduce the amount of interaction between individuals” to halt the spread of the virus.Īmong the most dire actions was the stay-at-home lockdown. Instead, he was “briefed” and consulted on “key matters.” Wolf never attended meetings of the teams, the judge writes. “Formality was not the first thing on minds,” the ruling states. The “reopening team” came up with protocols for the red-yellow-green phases (the color phases were chosen so we bitter gun clingers would be able to grasp the brain trust’s high concepts), and the “policy team” was behind the closing all “non-life-sustaining” businesses, the judge writes.īut of the hundreds, if not thousands, of meetings Wolf’s brain trusters held, none were open to the public. Wolf assembled this breezy brain trust on March 6, the same day he declared coronavirus an emergency in Pennsylvania. “The group never reduced its purpose to writing,” the brief states. Judge Stickman writes that there was never an official summary of their mission, though its stated purpose was vague. It’s a sort of secretive super legislature of Wolf and agency staff divided into two teams – the “reopening team” and the “policy team.” Stickman doesn’t reveal their names, but writes that “none … possess a medical background or are experts in infection control.” In a scoop, Judge Stickman reveals the contraption behind the misery imposed on 14 million Pennsylvanians since March. Bush told the hapless Brown, who’d resign.
“Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job,” President George W.
It’s reminiscent of Michael Brown, the FEMA director under Bush II who mishandled the government response to Hurricane Katrina, in which more than 1,200 people died. But testimony from Wolf’s people is clear: they're in over their heads. Lockdown, you can make of Stickman’s opinion what you want. Judge Stickman is a Trump appointee, and if you loathe President Trump, but support Gov. “It may be that whole – you know, that whole system is replaced with just very limited restrictions,” Robinson told the court. When Robinson was asked when all COVID restrictions would lift, he “hedged.” Sam Robinson, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, testified that some form of “green phase” restrictions could be here to stay. Wolf has no intention of completely ending our long, coronavirus nightmare, either, Stickman implies. District Court Judge William Stickman uses testimony from Wolf’s staff to expose slapdash decision-making that upended lives, wrecked businesses, dissolved jobs and forced millions of Pennsylvanians to heel to Wolf’s “new normal,” now in its sixth month.
Recall last spring when we were told Wolf's decisions were “data-driven” and based on “science” but Wolf wouldn’t provide reporters with either to prove it. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus lockdowns and public gathering restrictions were declared unconstitutional by a federal judge, but little’s been reported on how the ruling details the Wolf administration’s ineptitude as it bungled through the crisis.
0 kommentar(er)
