PRO-LIFE WISCONSIN VICTORIOUS AT THE WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT: TAVERN LEAGUE OF WISCONSIN, INC. V. ANDREA PALM AND WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES

April 14, 2021

Madison, WI – We thank the Wisconsin Supreme Court for their prudent, decisive, and common sense reading of the law as it was written. This rebuke of Governor Tony Evers' abuse of power is a win for the people of Wisconsin. Those who love liberty are forever indebted to the Thomas More Society for their tireless work on this case. This case was not just about how the executive branch overreached its power in the name of public health, but how a handful of citizens and constitutional law experts stood up to tyranny and won.

As an intervenor plaintiff in Tavern League of Wisconsin, Inc. v. Andrea Palm and Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Pro-Life Wisconsin argued the restrictions set forth by Secretary Designee Andrea Palm of the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services on March 12, 2020, and each order thereafter, harmed Pro-Life Wisconsin’s critical life-saving work.

Pro-Life Wisconsin’s legal counsel and Thomas More Society’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Andrew Bath, responded to the decision, “The Wisconsin Supreme Court has affirmed what we have said all along, that, under our constitutional system of separation of powers, no branch of government is a rule unto itself. The rights of Pro-Life Wisconsin and the other plaintiffs were violated when the Evers Administration engaged in dictatorial rule rather than follow the law. Those rights have been vindicated by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which today declared the administration’s illegal order to be neither ‘valid’ nor ‘enforceable.’ We hail the Court’s decision because the very notion of citizen self-government was at stake in this case.”

Bath added, “The outrageous fact that the Secretary-designee included a punishment of civil forfeiture of assets for noncompliance with her excessive regulations shows that the move was more about absolute power than disease prevention. As we have seen, the United States Supreme Court continues to protect rights guaranteed by the federal constitution – even in a pandemic. We are pleased that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has protected rights guaranteed by the state constitution and halted the administration’s attempt to do an end run around the people’s representatives in violation of Wisconsin law.”

Read the Supreme Court of Wisconsin order issued in Tavern League of Wisconsin Inc. v. Andrea Palm and Wisconsin Department of Health Services on April 14, 2021, on bypass from the Court of Appeals, here.

CONTACT:
Anna DeMeuse, Communications Director
P: 262.796.1111 ext. 112
E: [email protected]