Supreme Court Won’t Lift Pennsylvania Governor’s Shutdown Order

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to lift Pennsylvania's shutdown order, rejecting a request from businesses and a political campaign that said their constitutional rights were being violated.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses closed in March to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The state has since begun easing the restrictions.

The challengers included a golf course, laundromat, timber company, real-estate agent and political committee tied to a Republican state legislative candidate. They turned to the nation's top court after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected their arguments.

The case marked the first time the Supreme Court had been asked to lift a coronavirus shutdown order. There were no noted dissents in the court's order Wednesday.

President Donald Trump has agitated since March to end social distancing, which has collapsed the U.S. economy -- the chief argument for his re-election campaign.

And several mostly Republican-run states across the South and Midwest -- including Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio and Missouri -- continue to take steps to significantly relax restrictions that were put in place against the coronavirus outbreak.

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