Wisconsin Judge Says Endangered Meatpacking Workers Aren’t ‘Regular Folks’

The conservative chief justice of Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court is under fire after she said this week that meatpackers in Wisconsin who have contracted the coronavirus aren’t “regular folks” like other residents of the state.

Chief Justice Patience Roggensack made the comment during oral arguments conducted via teleconferencing on Tuesday in a suit brought by Republican lawmakers against Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home orders.

Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Colin Roth, arguing on behalf of Evers, cited a surge in cases in Brown County as an example of why the orders were necessary. Roth said cases in Brown County “surged from just 60 to almost 800” over the course of two weeks. The outbreak was traced to the JBS Packerland meatpacking plant in the county, at which 300 workers were sickened by the coronavirus, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette. Continue reading.