Supreme Court declines to lift Pennsylvania order closing non-essential businesses

May 6 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to lift an executive order by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf that mandated all non-essential business close in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

A conservative political action committee and a group of businesses petitioned the Supreme Court to remove the executive order, saying it "has and is continuing to cause irreparable harm."

The Supreme Court denied the request without comment and there were no known dissents.

Wolf's order mandated all non-life-sustaining businesses temporarily close while those that remain open were ordered to comply with social distancing standards.

The businesses filed an emergency request with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, alleging the order was unconstitutional.

The state court denied the request, leading the businesses to call on the U.S. Supreme Court to review the lower court's decision. The plaintiffs said the order "permits the continued closure of petitioners and tens of thousands of other businesses across Pennsylvania and as such constitutes severe, immediate and ongoing deprivation of their rights under the U.S. Constitution."

Pennsylvania's attorney general, Josh Shapiro, filed a response to the justices earlier this week urging the Supreme Court not to intervene.

"Applicants seek to upend the status quo and force Pennsylvania to prematurely reopen all businesses locations, regardless of public health data and contrary to the phased reopening currently underway based on that data," Shapiro wrote.