Wisconsin judge upholds mask order for enclosed spaces

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Monday allowed the state’s mask mandate to stand, rejecting an attempt by the Republican-controlled Legislature and a conservative law firm to overturn it, even as cases are spiking.

The judge noted in his ruling that the Legislature could vote to overturn the order from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers if they wanted to, but they haven’t so far.

Republican legislative leaders and a spokesman for the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which brought the case, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The Legislature filed a brief in support of the lawsuit. The ruling is expected to be appealed.

The lawsuit argued that Evers overstepped his authority by issuing multiple emergency orders to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Evers defended the mask order, saying it was within his power to impose the requirement and that he followed the recommendations of public health experts.

St. Croix County Circuit Judge R. Michael Waterman said in his ruling that nothing prevents a governor, as Evers did in this case, from issuing multiple emergency declarations “when the emergency conditions continue to exist.”

“And, if the Legislature is unconvinced that a state of emergency does exist, the Legislature has the ultimate power to terminate it,” the judge said.

The judge also noted that overturning the mask mandate, in place since August, would “affect every person in Wisconsin by a judicial act that usurps the governor’s power to declare a state of emergency and the Legislature’s power to end one.”

Evers first declared a public health emergency in March and renewed it in July after the Legislature declined to extend it. The July order mandated the wearing of masks starting in August for anyone aged 5 and up in...