PA lockdown ruled unconstitutional — is NJ next? (Opinion)

A U.S. District Court judge ruled that Pennsylvania's Governor Tom Wolf's lockdown orders were unconstitutional. The suit was brought by hair salon owners, a drive-in movie theatre owner, a farmer's market vendor, a horse trainer and several Republican elected officials, who sued as individuals. They were kept from making a living for months by that state's governor who ordered all non-life sustaining businesses be shut down at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The orders were pretty much identical to our state's lockdown orders that devastated our economy, especially among the small business community. We initially were told 15 days, two weeks, and we could flatten the curve. It went on for months and still carries severe restrictions and limitations for businesses in New Jersey.

Several business owners and New Jersey Republican leaders sued Gov. Murphy in Superior Court back in May. That's a state court, but the same premise applied. No word on where the suit went or if it reached the federal court level. The damage has already been done here and some of these businesses affected by the lockdown will never recover. But for the future, we need to know that this kind of government overreach can never happen again. The state government's role in a pandemic or other national crisis should be clearly defined and never again include the kind of lockdown that has ruined so many lives of hard working entrepreneurs both here and around the country.

Many people point to Sweden as the only Western country to avoid the kind of drastic lockdowns that have devastated economies around the world. It looks like they're out of the woods and doing better than European countries like Spain, France and Italy, which had severe lockdowns and some are experiencing more cases and more deaths now than Sweden.

Alex Berenson is a former New York Times reporter whose been rooting out the facts and not interested in whipping up fear and hysteria. His book on coronavirus is a best seller. You won't hear what he's reported in the mainstream media and you have to do some digging for the facts. One fact remains. The cure was far worse than the disease and we should all never forget that.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis' own.