The state’s highest court is weighing a challenge to the sweeping emergency powers Governor Charlie Baker has wielded amid the pandemic, setting up a decision with potentially far-reaching effects on the scope of gubernatorial authority and the millions of lives it touches. The Supreme Judicial Court, meeting virtually without its chief justice, heard arguments Friday…

Gov. Charlie Baker’s power during the pandemic was first up before the SJC Friday — where “winners and losers” in the crippled economy was debated along with the Legislature appearing to surrender control to the governor. The state Supreme Judicial Court must now rule if Baker overstepped his authority by issuing executive orders mostly under…

Several Members of the Supreme Judicial Court seemed wary on Friday of upending the fight against COVID-19 during a hearing on a case challenging the sweeping powers Gov. Charlie Baker has exercised over the last seven months in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Read the full article   TweetShareShare0 Shares

Massachusetts’ top court on Friday expressed skepticism that local boards of health or the Legislature could have done a better job combating the COVID-19 pandemic than Gov. Charlie Baker, casting doubt on a challenge to his sweeping emergency orders. During oral arguments in the case, the Supreme Judicial Court pushed back against an argument by…

Did Governor Charlie Baker overstep his authority when he declared a state of emergency during the pandemic and ordered non-essential businesses to close their doors? A group representing Massachusetts businesses and organizations argued before the state’s highest court Friday, saying the shutdown was an overreach. “The governor’s taken control and he’s turned the government upside…

Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the state’s highest court is poised to decide whether Gov. Charlie Baker’s string of executive orders were a legally appropriate response to contain the highly infectious virus or if he overstepped the authority outlined in law. An attorney representing business owners and religious leaders who sued the Baker administration…