A federal judge in Pennsylvania, on Monday, ruled that orders by the state’s Democratic governor Tom Wolf to shut down businesses and limit gatherings in order to tackle COVID-19 were “unconstitutional”, reported AFP.

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Judge William Stickman, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, said that despite the governor acting with “good intention of addressing a public health emergency,” he did not have the right to infringe on citizens’ fundamental freedoms. He said, “There is no question that this country has faced, and will face, emergencies of every sort. But the solution to a national crisis can never be permitted to supersede the commitment to individual liberty that stands as the foundation of the American experiment.”

Announced at the start of the pandemic in March, the lockdown measures were challenged in court by several Republican lawmakers and small business owners, including the proprietor of a hair salon and of a racehorse stable, who said the restrictions put their enterprises at risk. 

Stickman criticised the reasons over which businesses were deemed essential or non-essential and said no objective definition had been provided. He said, “The Constitution sets certain lines that may not be crossed, even in an emergency. Actions of the defendants crossed those lines. It is the duty of the Court to declare those actions unconstitutional.”

Although Wolf  lifted a large number of the restrictions after the virus, which has killed 7,800 people in the state, appeared to be coming under control, few restrictions, including the limitation on bars and restaurants having more than 25 clients indoors or 250 outside, still remain. 

US courts have been swamped with lawsuits challenging restrictions right from the beginning of the pandemic. In May a judge overruled an extension of the lockdown orders in Wisconsin while a Michigan court ruled in its favor.