Louisiana Virus Rules Dispute Returned to Lower Court The Louisiana Supreme Court on Dec. 21 sent a legal feud between Gov. John Bel Edwards and House Republicans over coronavirus restrictions back to district court, saying the judge ruled too quickly that the state law the GOP used to try to nullify the restrictions was unconstitutional. The justices wrote in their opinion that Baton Rouge Judge William Morvant should have held a full hearing on other issues raised in the lawsuit over the Democratic governor’s statewide mask mandate, business restrictions and crowd size limits aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19.