Letter to the editor: We can’t send out-of-work people into jaws of pandemic

By DON FOY | La Farge

Does anyone really need to point out the irony (to put it kindly) of the Wisconsin Supreme Court electronically hearing arguments and issuing a ruling to kill Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order? The justices who voted to overturn the order — Roggensack, Rebecca Bradley, Kelly and Ziegler — “stayed at home,” or at least someplace safe, to do their work. In essence, they said, “We’re going to be careful about this pandemic, but we don’t care if you guys are at risk. It’s ‘tyranny’ (Justice Rebecca Bradley’s word) if the state tries to keep you safe.” Twisted right-wing thinking.

The Republican Legislature in April sued the Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services (DHS), and its head, Andrea Palm, claiming that Palm and the DHS “overreached” by issuing the order. However, the law that empowers DHS says it “may close schools and forbid public gatherings in schools, churches, and other places to control outbreaks and epidemics.” Overreach?

Justices Anne Walsh Bradley and Dallet were joined by conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn in dissent. Justice Hagedorn, though conservative, admirably hewed not to party line, but to what he saw as the logic of the matter. He said, “The Legislature may have buyer’s remorse for the breadth of discretion it gave to [DHS], but those are the laws it drafted …We are allowing the Legislature to argue its own laws are unconstitutional.”

Sure, people are suffering by being out of work, but we can’t fix that by sending them into the jaws of a pandemic.

Comments are closed.

  • Letter to the editor: Is Big Brother already listening?

    March 14th, 2024
    by

    By DANI SULIK | Kendall When George Orwell’s novel 1984 was published in 1949, it was seen as a fictional cautionary […]


    Letter to the editor: Vote no on constitutional amendments

    March 14th, 2024
    by

    By JOAN KENT | La Farge Some things are not what they appear. Like the two constitutional amendments on Wisconsin’s April […]


    Letter to the editor: Oath/pledge

    March 14th, 2024
    by

    By LEE D. VAN LANDUYT | Hillsboro An oath is a solemn promise regarding one’s future action or behavior. Our Pledge […]


    Letter to the editor: Questions remain about Vernon County Landfill

    March 11th, 2024
    by

    By CATHY LUND | Viroqua I appreciated the well-articulated article Gail Frie wrote in the paper regarding the landfill. It is […]


    Letter to the editor: Vernon County and Wisconsin are national leaders in landfill safety

    February 8th, 2024
    by

    Recently I became aware of information being circulated in the county through social media and emails that questions the safety of the Vernon County landfill.


  • Your Right to Know: Don’t charge records requesters for redactions

    February 6th, 2024
    by

    You’ve already paid for them. They’re yours. But if you want to see the public records that show what your government is doing, some state lawmakers want you to pay again — this time, for redactions.


    Letter to the editor: Transgender lunacy: Let’s just call it nuts!

    February 5th, 2024
    by

    By BOB BREIDENSTEIN | rural Ontario Nuts! That the latest U.S. Supreme Court justice, at her confirmation hearing, with a bewildered […]


    Letter to the editor: The clock is ticking

    February 5th, 2024
    by

    You’re thinking, “She’s complaining about the Republicans again.” And you’d be right.


    Letter to the editor: Democracy vs. dictatorship

    February 5th, 2024
    by

    Otto von Bismarck once said: “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” 


    Letter to the editor: Warm memories and perspectives 

    February 5th, 2024
    by

    Winter meant skating, ice and roller skating. The new pavilion in Ontario has taken the place of the old Ontario Community Hall for skating.


    Letter to the editor: In defense of grammar

    January 4th, 2024
    by

    By DANI SULIK | Kendall Who doesn’t love grammar? Okay, so you may not love it, but you know when it’s […]


  • Archives