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Legislators including O’Neal ask DAs not to prosecute businesses for opening

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Calling Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown of businesses “unconstitutional and illegitimate” during the novel coronavirus pandemic, state Rep. Tim O’Neal (R-South Strabane) was among a group of legislators who signed a letter to the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association urging that violators not be prosecuted.

The letter also claimed that Wolf, a Democrat, “has encouraged our citizens to turn against their neighbors and communities to report non-compliance with his dictates, evoking scenes from an Orwellian nightmare.”

The State Department of Health announced Wednesday that 58,698 Pennsylvanians had contracted the contagious disease, resulting in 3,943 deaths. Economies have spiraled downward across the globe, leading to unemployment rates not seen in the United States since the Great Depression.

“To my knowledge no one has been charged. I have been in contact with the police agencies and have expressed my desire to evaluate any proposed charge,” Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone, a Republican, wrote in response to an email seeking comment on the legislators’ letter.

Greene County District Attorney Dave Russo, also a member of the GOP, responded, “This letter from our state representatives is the support we need to open our state quickly, safely, and without further economic damage.”

Southwestern Pennsylvania on Friday joins Northwestern and North-Central Pennsylvania in moving to a yellow cautionary phase from the previous red alert in which businesses deemed to be non-essential were to remain closed.

There have been more than 85,000 deaths in the United States attributed to COVID-19, among 249,000 worldwide.

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