Covid-19 update: Judge tells Beshear his emergency orders must be specific

This report on the coronavirus and its covid-19 disease in Kentucky will be updated.

Scott Circuit Judge Brian Privett has issued a temporary restraining order telling Gov. Andy Beshear not to issue or enforce any more emergency orders unless he states "the emergency that requires the order, the location of the emergency, and the name of the local emergency management agency that has determined that the emergency is beyond its capabilities."

Privett issued the order in a lawsuit filed by Evans Orchard & Cider Mill of Georgetown, seeking relief from Beshear's limits on attendance at the agri-tourism facility. The injunction bars Beshear from enforcing any emergency order against the business "or any of the 547 other such registered facilities.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who joined the lawsuit, announced the ruling in a press release: “The governor cannot issue broad, arbitrary executive orders apart from the requirements of state law. . . . This is a clear win for the rule of law and will help Kentucky families and businesses across the commonwealth who have suffered and continue to suffer financial losses and economic hardship because of the governor’s executive orders.”