Butler County officials are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review its case against the state's use of executive orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We hope the Supreme Court will take it up, and we can get a decision that will prevent the governor from using these measures again,” said attorney Thomas King III, representing the plaintiffs.

The case, filed under the name Butler County vs. the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, argues that the business shutdowns and stay-at-home orders instituted by Gov. Tom Wolf and the state's secretary of health were unconstitutional.

In a ruling Sept. 14, 2020, U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV agreed with the plaintiffs' claim, although he removed Butler and three other counties as legitimate plaintiffs. Multiple Butler County businesses remain plaintiffs in the suit.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit reviewed the case in July and issued its ruling in August, and while that ruling did not reverse Stickman's decision, it deemed the case moot.

Appellate Judge Patty Shwartz wrote that because the orders in question had expired, no legal remedy existed and, as such, the court cannot rule on the merits of the case.

King said by deeming the case moot, the appeals court took power away from the lower court's decision. He said the goal of the latest petition is to get the nation's highest court's decision to reinforce the point.

“The point is we never want this to happen again,” King said. “That's why we think the case is so important.”

Through a ballot referendum earlier this year, Pennsylvania voters stripped power from the governor that allowed him to enact these types of orders, but Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam still holds that power.

King said the secretary should not have that authority either.

“That's why we think the case is so important,” he said.

Since the Legislature terminated Wolf's disaster declaration, no state official has indicated they intend to issue new orders mimicking those seen in 2020.

King said that for the business owners he represents, the possibility of reoccurrence is worrisome.

“Their businesses, which included furniture stores, drive-in movie theaters, beauty salons and others, were shut down by the governor of Pennsylvania,” King said. “It was devastating to these people.”