Opinion

Twitter rips ‘hypocrisy’ of WI Supreme Court nixing governor’s stay-at-home order ‘on a virtual Zoom call’

05/14/2020 9:44 am ET • Amy Penn

'Stupid on steroids': Twitter rips into Wisconsin's Supreme Court for striking down governor's safer-at-home order

Flickr/michael_swan

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court overturned Gov. Tony Evers’s stay-at-home order Wednesday. In what’s being seen as a significant win for the state’s Republican-majority Legislature, it ruled that the rule was “unlawful” and “unenforceable.”

With Evers’s blessing, the state Department of Health Services had extended the order to May 26 — even calling for school closures for the rest of the academic year. The court, in a 4-3 decision, said that the administration had overreached its authority in doing so.

Risking lives for politics

Shutterstock / Courier

With the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reporting approximately 10,902 coronavirus cases and 421 deaths in the state, Twitter blasted the Supreme Court’s decision for risking American lives for politics.

Republicans are INSANE: Wisconsin Supreme Court’s GOP majority strikes down state's stay-at-home order. Stupid on steroids!https://t.co/IajwgYGqc8

— John Dean (@JohnWDean) May 14, 2020

‘Regular folks’ will suffer

Cartoon drawing of people wearing facemasks

Shutterstock

Eric Holder, a former U.S. Attorney General in President Obama’s administration summed it up in one word — “shameful.”

In invalidating stay at home order Wisconsin Supreme Court callously puts lives at risk. Republican legislature and justices now own impact of their actions. This is ideology/partisanship over law/good sense. A lot of “regular folks�? will suffer. Shameful. https://t.co/V8GekFAJ7P

— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) May 14, 2020

Court is not in session

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A doctor even pointed out the irony of blocking a safer-at-home order on a virtual Zoom call.

If the Wisconsin Supreme Court wanted to overturn Governor Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order, the judges should’ve had the guts to make their ruling in person. Instead they did it by remote video conference to protect themselves while telling the people of Wisconsin to go risk death

— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) May 14, 2020

Time to party?

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Others wielded sarcasm as their primary weapon…

As soon as Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes down the Stay at Home order, we're all going to Justice Rebecca Bradley's house to party and shake her hand. See you soon Rebecca.

— jamie (@gnuman1979) May 5, 2020

Except for the meatpackers

Two workers inside a meat processing plant

USDA/ Preston Keres

Some of them took the opportunity to point out Wisconsin Chief Justice Patience Roggensack’s “classist” remarks when she blamed meatpacking employees for the rise in COVID-19 cases in the county, not “regular folks.”

Reminder: the chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court said meatpacking workers weren't "regular folks" at the hearing for this case.

Why aren't meatpackers "regular folks"? Because many are Black and Brown immigrants. https://t.co/JggFntCsHi

— Pé (@4everNeverTrump) May 13, 2020

Not even close, Becky

Unsplash / Michael Lensink

The opposite of political-correctness didn’t end there as Justice Rebecca Bradley drew comparisons of the stay-at-home order to Korematsu and Japanese internment camps during World War II.

Yes, really: Wisconsin Justice Rebecca Bradley’s concurrence to the Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion striking down Gov. Evers’ stay-at-home order compared the governor’s order to the internment of Japanese Americans during WW II. pic.twitter.com/0Bvr1zIT4i

— Michael Li �?�之樸 (@mcpli) May 13, 2020

Trump chimes in

Screenshot / YouTube

Twitterati also took a dig at “Millionaire-at-birth” Donald Trump Jr., who celebrated the court’s decision when the U.S. death roll rises past 84,763.

Millionaire-at-birth who’s never had a job that didn’t come from his rich dad cheers big govt forcing working Americans to risk their lives as the death toll rises past 83,000.

Seriously, #MAGA, y’all can stop pretending you’re Christian.

Wisconsin Supreme Court #RIPCapitalism https://t.co/7fqiyA8XdW

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) May 13, 2020

This isn’t the first time that the court has barred Evers’s orders, though. Last month, it blocked the governor’s executive decision to delay the state’s primary — something that other states have done to tackle the spread of coronavirus.