(The Center Square) – A Baton Rouge-based district judge on Thursday ruled unconstitutional a state law allowing one chamber of the Legislature to overturn a governor’s emergency order, setting the stage for an appeal.
Judge William Morvant with the 19th Judicial District said he wished the case could have skipped state court and gone straight to the Louisiana Supreme Court, since the justices will be the final arbiters.
Shortly before the Legislature’s recent special session ended, 65 of the 68 Republicans in the state House of Representatives signed a petition to suspend the governor’s COVID-19 emergency order for seven days. They were doing so under an obscure law that has never been tested in court that allows one chamber to end a state of emergency by petition.
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