Friday, 1/28 – A New York judge refused to grant a temporary injunction against the state mask rules and “Excelsior Pass,” finding insufficient evidence of irreparable harm.
Friday, 1/28 – A Minnesota judge denied a temporary restraining order requested by restaurants and nightclubs seeking to halt Minneapolis’s vaccine-or-test mandate
Thursday, 1/27 – A Massachusetts Appeals Court judge temporarily paused Boston’s vaccination mandate for city workers that was to go into effect Monday.
Tuesday, 1/25 – A judge in Nebraska refused to grant a temporary injunction sought by Nebraska AG Doug Peterson, to prohibit enforcement of the Omaha mask mandate issued by the Douglas County Health Director.
Monday, 1/24 – Seven Virginia school boards are challenging the governor’s executive order banning mask mandates. The previous Tuesday, a group of parents filed a lawsuit to block the order.
Spotlight: Demetriou v. New York State Department of Health
(Index No. 616124/2021)
A group of New York citizens sued to block a state mask mandate ordered by the Commissioner of Health. On Monday, January 24, a state trial judge found health officials lacked authority to enact the mandate without approval of state legislators. The next day, an appellate court stayed the decision, allowing the mandate to stay in place until further deliberation by the court.
This is yet another court insisting that public health authorities need to be explicitly granted. The trial judge relied on earlier decisions by the state’s high court in cases relating to tobacco control and measures aimed at sugary beverages to rule that important public health orders require explicit authorization from the legislature. The judge found the mask mandate was not grounded in state law, as no state law explicitly authorized a mask mandate.
This echoes what federal courts refer to as the major questions doctrine. As the Supreme Court said in its recent case invalidating the OSHA vaccination mandate, “‘We expect Congress to speak clearly’ if it wishes to assign to an executive agency decisions ‘of vast economic and political significance.’”
Parties presented written arguments in appellate court Friday. Also Friday, New York extended the mandate, which was set to expire February 1, to February 10, at which point it will be re-evaluated every two weeks.
