The 13 million residents of Pennsylvania can thank two gutsy commissioners from Butler County for the ruling passed down today from U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV.

On a Friday evening in the spring, Butler County Commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer made an urgent phone call to Butler attorney Tom King, looking for legal guidance in dealing with the edicts being handed down by Gov. Tom Wolf.

The way the commissioners saw it, Gov. Wolf was choosing winners and losers in his handling of his closures and restrictions on businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, with little or no regard for the ultimate result those orders could have.

They made the decision to be leaders in the fight to try to save the businesses they saw being ruined and the jobs that were most definitely being lost. We will be explaining and writing about this court decision for days, but tonight let’s give credit where credit is due.

Commissioners Osche and Geyer stood up to the bully, the big bad wolf, if you will.

They retained the legal help to get into federal court and get this decision, which basically states that Wolf, along with his Secretary of Health, Rachel Levine, violated the constitutional rights of all Pennsylvanians with the random limits he put on the number of people who could attend functions indoors or outside, and also his declaration of which businesses were and were not essential.

His clear opinion that Levine also had cut an inappropriate and unconstitutional deal with the Carlisle car show of his choice also showed the ridiculous extent to which Wolf and Levine had abused their positions. This is only chapter one of this fight as Wolf has already declared his intention to appeal the decision.

But round one goes to Commissioners Osche and Geyer, and regardless of what happens next, we salute them for the intestinal fortitude it took to challenge the governor. Well done, commissioners.

— RV