KY Supreme Court steps in, puts hold on lower court rulings against Beshear's COVID-19 orders

Jul. 17--The Kentucky Supreme Court has put on hold all lower court rulings involving Gov. Andy Beshear's emergency orders to curb the coronavirus in Kentucky.

That means all of Beshear's orders, including mandatory masks in public, stay in effect for now.

The unanimous decision by the state's highest court came Friday afternoon, several hours after Beshear said a Boone Circuit Court judge has indicated he would void all of Beshear's executive orders to try to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The high court, in a three-page order written by Chief Justice John D. Minton in issuing the stay, directed that "any lower court order, after entry, be immediately transferred to the clerk of the Supreme Court for consideration by the full court."

"Given the need for a clear and consistent statewide public health policy and recognizing that the Kentucky legislature has expressly given the governor broad executive powers in a public health emergency, the Court orders a stay of all orders of injunctive relief until such time as the various orders are properly before the Court with a full record of any evidence and pleadings considered by the lower courts," the Supreme Court said.

At his regular news conference Friday to update the coronavirus impact in Kentucky, Beshear said he was "relieved" with the Supreme Court order.

He said he has stayed up the last two nights,"not sleeping, worrying about how many people would die if we did not have any type of rules in place."

He added, "It breaks my heart every day I'm up here and have to talk about the people we are losing or that we might be moving in the wrong direction. I want to get back to the old normal as much as everybody else.

"This has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life, just like I know this is the hardest thing just about every family has had to go through. I've lost people to this virus. I know I will lose other people to this virus."

Beshear reported that Kentucky on Friday reported its third highest day of new cases -- 531. The state has had a total of 21,605 cases. There were eight new deaths Friday, giving the state a total of 653.

"We are living in a really dangerous time. Here's the great thing. We know what we can do to lessen its impact," noting social distancing, wearing masks, reducing crowd and washing hands.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who has been challenging Beshear's orders in courts, said, "As important issues are being considered in these cases, we respect the Supreme Court's decision to maintain these orders until the court can undertake its proceedings.

"Our goal in joining these cases is that the law is followed and the rights of Kentuckians are protected. We look forward to having the Supreme Court take up these important issues in the coming days."

Kentucky House and Senate Democratic leaders said in an email that they "are extremely happy to see the Kentucky Supreme Court step in and put the safety of Kentuckians above politics.

"The law giving the governor emergency powers is clear, indisputable and built on a solid legal foundation, and the General Assembly reaffirmed that by adding to it at the start of the pandemic.

"If Attorney General Daniel Cameron had had his way, dozens if not hundreds of Kentuckians could have gotten sick and died. We question how he came up with his reasons for doing this, and we certainly don't understand why."

Before the Supreme Court's action put the lower court rulings on hold, Cameron tweeted early Friday morning that Boone Circuit Judge Richard A. Brueggemann had indicated he will sign an order to require Beshear "to follow the legal process" in issuing COVID-19 executive orders.

Cameron's tweet came after the judge held a lengthy hearing Thursday on Cameron's request that the judge block all of Beshear's COVID-19 orders and prohibit him from issuing or enforcing any new orders.

Cameron's request came in a lawsuit filed by an automobile race track and day care centers opposing Beshear's restrictions on their businesses. The judge earlier had blocked Beshear's restrictions on those businesses.

Beshear said earlier Friday that he was awaiting a written order from the Boone Circuit Court "and will be ready to take further action. The lives of many Kentuckians are on the line."

The high court order Friday noted that Boone and Scott circuit courts have blocked Beshear's orders and that Boone has indicated it will issue an order soon on Cameron's motion to stop all of Beshear's orders.

It said the Boone and Scott circuit courts "may proceed with matters before them and issue all findings of fact and conclusions of law they find appropriate but no order, however characterized, shall be effective."

The high court said its stay shall continue until it reviews the full record of proceedings and issues a final order "addressing these issues of paramount public importance to all citizens of the Commonwealth."

Cameron's tweet, posted at 12:22 a.m. Friday, said, "Tonight a Boone Circuit judge indicated he will be signing an order requiring Governor Beshear to follow the legal process when taking executive actions.

"This ruling provides much-needed relief to Kentucky businesses that joined us in challenging the Governor's notion that he has absolute power from the law."

Cameron, a Republican, claimed in the tweet that the ruling "does not hamper the ability of public health officials to ensure the safety and well-being of Kentuckians.

"Public health experts today testified in court that they have the tools they need to regulate public health and fight the coronavirus without executive orders from the Governor."

Cameron added, "While Governor Beshear's legal team stated in court that there are no limits on his power, our Constitution, state law, and the judge at today's proceeding said otherwise."

Cameron said he does not yet have the specifics of the order, 'but we are confident that it will balance public health with the rights of Kentuckians."

The attorney general entered the case, siding with Florence Speedway and day care centers, to block Beshear's restrictions on crowd and class sizes.

Chris Wiest, who represented the race track and day care centers at Thursday's hearing that ran from 10 a.m to 10:30 p.m., said the Kentucky Constitution provides for a strict separation of powers and requires a written determination of a disaster area by local emergency management service agencies before the governor can issue emergency orders.

Beshear did not do that, said Wiest.

He said the hearing was "fundamentally about process and the Constitution and checks and balances."

"The court found that the governor was legislating by decree," said the attorney, "There are processes in place to put in administrative regulations for health and safety standards. Yes, they do not allow complete business shutdowns, but they allow the governor to enact some fairly protective measures for the public health.

"The process matters, and the process wasn't followed. Maybe it will be in the future."

Wiest could not be immediately reached to comment on the Supreme Court action.

The Scott circuit court case the Supreme Court referred to involved a ruling by Judge Brian Privett agains. t Beshear's restrictions on agritourism businesses. Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles filed the lawsuit against Beshear with a Georgetown business.

Beshear also asked Franklin Circuit Court this week to declare his mandatory mask order proper.

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