Kentucky Attorney General challenges governor's mask mandate
Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 5 months AGO
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has asked a county judge to rule on the legality of the governor's recent executive order requiring masks in public.
Cameron said Friday that his office filed a motion in Scott County Circuit Court asking Judge Brian Privett if an executive order requiring public mask wearing complies with a restraining order issued by that court.
Privett issued the two-page temporary restraining order on Thursday that the judge said blocks Gov. Andy Beshear from issuing future executive orders related to the pandemic, unless the governor first meets a list of requirements described in the order.
Beshear said Privett “thinks he's an epidemiologist.” The governor said the ruling would be appealed and likely end up before the state Supreme Court.
Newly reported cases of COVID-19 have increased in recent days in Kentucky, prompting Beshear to issue the 30-day order requiring masks in public places. Two of Kentucky's highest daily counts for new coronavirus cases have occurred this week.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit that challenged Beshear's restrictions on agritourism businesses due to the pandemic. Cameron and state agriculture secretary Ryan Quarles were parties in the lawsuit. Privett's order also blocked COVID-19 requirements at those businesses.
Beshear said said Cameron "is the only AG in the country suing their governor over these restrictions.”
“Could you imagine with Texas and Florida going where they are, if I didn’t have any authority whatsoever to put in restrictions to stop this from spreading?” Beshear said at his Thursday news briefing. “Do you know what would happen?”
Cameron said in a release from his office Friday that Beshear has “refused input on his executive orders, despite offers of assistance.”
Cameron said he believes it is appropriate to wear a mask but he wants to determine if Beshear's mask order “follows state law.”
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
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