Georgia Governor Sues Atlanta Mayor over Masks Mandate
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council appealing town’s decision to mandate masks and revert to section one reopening pointers.
The lawsuit calls town’s unique mask requirements “void and unenforceable” and asks a focal level on to dam Bottoms from issuing any orders or press releases imposing a mask mandate or enacting diversified restrictions which would possibly presumably well well be stricter than the mumble’s.
“This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business house owners and their hardworking workers who are struggling to live to mumble the tale at some level of these advanced times,” Kemp said in an announcement. Phase one pointers push eating locations to discontinuance dining rooms and elope residents to bolt away home finest for a truly noteworthy journeys.
“These men and females are doing their very finest to place food on the desk for their households whereas native elected officials shutter companies and undermine economic enhance,” the Republican governor said.
In a press conference Thursday, one day after Kemp signed an executive advise explicitly prohibiting native governments within the mumble from issuing mask mandates, Bottoms said she became as soon as ready for a honest battle to defend town’s COVID-19 policies.
“I’m now not insecure of town being sued,” said Bottoms, who tested posted for the virus earlier this month.
“An even bigger exercise of taxpayer cash would possibly presumably well well be to elongate testing and make contact with tracing,” said Bottoms. “If being sued by the mumble is what it takes to avoid losing lives in Atlanta, then we can search them in court docket.”
The Democratic mayor said she believes Atlanta has the standing to mandate masks, in particular in structures and locations owned and operated by town.
Georgia Attorney Total Chris Carr, moreover a plaintiff within the lawsuit, said the litigation is “regarding the rule of law” and that the mumble encourages Georgians to place on masks.
“The Structure provides Governor Kemp chief executive energy for the Speak of Georgia, together with at some level of a public successfully being mumble of emergency,” Carr said. “The City of Atlanta can’t continue to knowingly enter orders which would possibly presumably well well be unenforceable and void.”
Atlanta and a dozen diversified localities within the mumble had mandated mask wearing in public areas, defying Kemp’s advise that encourages, but doesn’t mandate face coverings as bigger than 100,000 Georgians appreciate tested certain for the virus.
The honest battle is the most up-tp-date in a series of tensions between the governor and mayor. Kemp sent the Georgia National Guard to Atlanta earlier this month after a weekend of violence that incorporated the ransacking of the headquarters of the Georgia Speak Patrol and the fatal shooting of an 8-one year-frail girl advance a Wendy’s that the mayor had allowed armed protestors to make a choice within the weeks after police shot and killed Rayshard Brooks at the positioning.
“True admire sending within the Georgia National Guard to guard those living in our capital city from crime and violence, I refuse to take a seat down encourage and perceive as disastrous policies threaten the lives and livelihoods of our electorate,” Kemp said in an announcement. “We can fight to forestall these reckless actions and place folk over pandemic politics.”