Baker County Judge Invalidates Oregon Gov. Brown's COVID-19 Emergency Orders

[maxsolomon]

Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting

The state of Oregon is open for business again, but not in the way Gov. Kate Brown hoped.

A Baker County judge has invalidated Brown's restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, along with every other executive order Brown has issued under a state of emergency she ordered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Finding that Brown exceeded her statutory authority in extending that state of emergency, Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff granted a preliminary injunction Monday on more than 20 orders dating back to March 12.

The judge declined to stay the order pending the review of a higher court, meaning it took effect immediately, according to Ray Hacke, the attorney who brought the challenge on behalf of faith groups, business owners and others.

Read more: https://www.opb.org/news/article/baker-county-oregon-coronavirus-covid-19-emergency-orders-judge/

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Baker County has a population of 16,000. Baker City is the biggest dot on the map between La Grande and Ontario.

UPDATE: Overruled by the State Supreme Court!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. Oh geez!

[dem4decades]

2. Someone should take the judge out for a drink and a ballgame.

[Faux pas]

3. For sure!

[maxsolomon]

7. Well, there are bars in Baker City, and there's probably a ballfield up in LaGrande

at Eastern Oregon University. EOU ain't having a baseball season anytime soon.

Only 1 case in that County so far, so they can afford to be cavalier about it. For now.

[noneof_theabove]

19. like Hunger Games

Catching fire were he was frog marched into a room, the doors locked, and all that was there was a table with a bowl of the poison berries.

Except him a choice of Clorox, Drain-O or Lysol to drink.

[LiberalFighter]

4. I don't get why county judges get to make those decisions.

[RainCaster]

5. All it takes is an "I'm going to vote, hold my beer" mentality

Any moron can be voted in as a county judge apparently.

[former9thward]

27. The judge was appointed to his position by the governor.

He had been district attorney for the county previously.

[Igel]

25. He's a circuit court judge.

Note that a number of federal issues have been put on hold by federal circuit court judges in the recent past. Jubilation ensued when they stopped Trump. (Not when they stopped things we liked.)

But circuit court judges make that kind of decision.

[leftieNanner]

6. This is in Deep Central Dumbfuckistan

Greg Walden territory. Maybe if enough of these idiots die off, we might turn Congressional District 2 - BLUE!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. Love the name of the attorney that brought the lawsuit LOL

[Thunderbeast]

11. Ammon Bundy Territory.

[McKim]

12. Baker City was a Democratic Bastion

Baker City was a Democratic Party Bastion in the past. It was the main cultural center between Portland and Salt Lake City. It is really not Dumbfuckistan, but has been a progressive island in Eastern Oregon. My family is from there, my great uncle was a mayor. My family prominent in the medical community.

[leftieNanner]

14. That's very cool to know

My generalization of Eastern Oregon is way off!

Thanks for enlightening me.

We are in a little blue island in Southern Oregon that is looped into very Red District 2 which includes nearly all of the eastern half of the state.

Greg Walden is retiring, but unfortunately he will be replaced with a lunatic.

[maxsolomon]

20. Baker City and that whole valley is gorgeous.

I love driving through there on the way to Boise/SLC.

[poli-junkie]

9. So this judge's order effects just Baker County, and not the whole state of Oregon?

[maxsolomon]

13. the whole shebang

[Warpy]

22. Than it will be appealed to the state supreme court.

So far, no one has challenged the governor here in NM, even though the state has some bedrock lunatic counties in it. A few counties have been hit hard here, so people know this virus is real.

[LizBeth]

10. Fast tracked to the state supreme court. We will hear later today I believe.

[Ford_Prefect]

17. One hopes before more damage is done to the Oregon Constitution and the citizens therein.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. What power does one circuit judge have over the whole state?

Maybe I'm missing the concept of 'circuit judge'. How much higher is that than a court of common pleas or justice of the peace?

[MosheFeingold]

16. Well, what power does one district court judge have over the entire USA?

I"ve been warning people that cheer some random judge causing Trump a national pain-in-the-ass that it was a mistake to cheer judicial activism.

Judicial activism not only swings both ways (and probably worse to us, since most judges lean conservative -- certainly on the federal bench), but it's very destructive to our democratic republic to let (generally) unelected assholes have so much power.

I'll bookmark this as Exhibit A.

[turbinetree]

18. So why can't someone sue that the faith groups , business are putting people lives in danger.......

if the shoe fits than maybe its time to fight back,.................this is BS and now this Judge has Blood on His Hands............

[NotHardly]

21. I'm in Oregon on the West & Reasonable side of the mountains... desert Oregon cray cary

but everyone knows that already out here. Nothing but Trumpers on East side & dry.

[maxsolomon]

24. So pretty, though.

Joseph, the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Steens Mtn., Owyhee River, John Day Fossil Beds, Bend, Crater Lake, etc.

I love it down there.

[NotHardly]

23. Our good governor is doing just fine w/o Trumpistanians being fools but you know...

you can't always be held accountable for your stupid 3rd cousins twice removed (there was a reason they were removed).

[former9thward]

28. The governor appointed this judge to his position.

[BadGimp]

26. This situation is about to get out of hand and a lot of people will die!

I truly worry about the predictable and inevitable cascading effects of this kind of shit.

The more empowered the fringe become the more they will demand, and the more impact they will have.

When the inevitable occurs, they will not be able to stop anything.

I can clearly see things spinning completely out of control, and causing horrible and outcomes that they never even considered. But we all will be forced to live with them.