The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear a lawsuit filed by legislative Republicans challenging Governor Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home” order.
The ruling issued Friday says nothing about the merits of the case, but allows the case to skip over lower courts.
Oral arguments will take place at 10 am Tuesday, May 5 via videoconference due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Each side will have 45 minutes.
Evers issued the “Safer at Home” order closing many businesses and prohibiting gatherings of any size on March 24, and it originally was to last until April 24. On April 16, he extended it to May 26 while allowing for some restrictions to be lifted.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald filed suit last week to block the extension of the order, arguing that it exceeded the governor’s authority.
The court sided with the Republicans on April 6 when Evers issued an order postponing the April 7 spring election and the legislature sued to block that order. Subsequently, 52 cases of coronavirus infection have been found to be connected to that election.
The ruling comes as Wisconsin saw its biggest one-day increase in positive cases to date.
