Lawsuit against Abbott’s virus orders is sound, will judges have fortitude?

Pratt on TexasDr. Steven Hotze, state Reps. Zedler, Bidermann, and a host of other plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit against Governor Abbott and the state over Texas’ Emergency Management statute. “Conservatives ask court to strike down Abbott coronavirus orders, law behind them,” was the headline on a related story in the Austin American-Statesman.

I mentioned the lawsuit and posted a link to it in the daily Pratt Post at my website on 21 May. On Friday, the parties filed an “emergency petition” to stop the actions of state and local government which appear to them to be unconstitutional.

The summary of the case brought is:

“Texas Government Code §418 is unconstitutional on its face and as applied. Moreover, Governor Abbott’s numerous executive orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic violate the separation of powers doctrine, and numerous provisions in the Texas Constitution’s Bill of Rights, including but not limited to, Article I, §3, Article I, §19, Article I, §28, Article II, §1, and Article IV, §8

“Even if the executive orders were founded upon legitimate constitutional authority (which they are not), they are unconstitutional as applied because they were instituted without due process, violate equal protection, and are composed of provisions that are arbitrary, capricious, and which are not the least restrictive means for advancing the government’s purported compelling interest (i.e., protecting public health).”

You can look up the citations on your own but they have a good case. The question is do we have judges willing to do the right thing?

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