Confusion and outrage over facemask requirements have spilled over into courtrooms around the country as private citizens claim public officials have violated their Constitutional rights.
Of particular interest is an Aug. 2 lawsuit filed by a Florida pastor and business owner that claims Manatee County’s mask requirement goes against what is promised by the U.S. Constitution.
Joel Tillis complains that research has failed to find evidence that masks are effective in reducing coronavirus transmission.
“Plaintiff’s reasonable expectation of privacy has been invaded and infringed by Manatee County, which is forcing Plaintiff and other Manatee County residents to wear a mask for a majority of the day,” the lawsuit says.
Filed by Clermont attorney Anthony Sabatini, the suit seeks an injunction against the mask policy.
“The citizens of Manatee County are burdened by the over-reach of their local government unprecedented in Florida history,” it says.
“The public has a strong interest in protecting their rights and their ability to control their own bodies and health.”
In Minnesota, an Aug. 4 lawsuit from a group called the Minnesota Voters Alliance complains that state officials have instituted conflicting laws, which has led to criminal prosecutions of both mask-wearers and bare-facers.
The group says it wants to campaign but does not know whether to wear masks while doing so.
“The plaintiffs fear that, as a result of the plaintiffs’ speech, expressive and associational activities in public places, including in-person voting, at least one of the defendants will initiate a complaint or prosecute at least one of the plaintiffs for either the plaintiff wearing a mask or not wearing a mask,” the lawsuit says.
“Therefore, the plaintiffs and each of them have had their First Amendment political activities deterred and chilled.”
The group claims a July 22 order requiring, under the threat of criminal charges, masks in public conflicts with preexisting Minnesota law that makes wearing a mask in public a criminal act.
“The only exceptions to this prohibition (are) if wearing a mask is ‘based on religious beliefs, or incidental to amusement entertainment, protection from weather, or medical treatment,’” the lawsuit says.
“Under common definitions of ‘treatment,’ mask-wearing to prevent a contagious disease is not medical ‘treatment.’”
In Oregon, a pro se lawsuit by Huguette Nicole Young against state Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum claims the COVID-19 pandemic has been overblown and that coughing into the bend of an elbow has the same effect as wearing a facemask.
“The most reliable scientific data to date shows all state and local face mask orders… fail both prongs of the strict scrutiny test because 1) as of June 2020, there is no state, county, or city in the United States that has shown Covid-29 qualifies as a public health disaster (or even an imminent public health disaster) within its jurisdiction, at least not a disaster that is worse than the flu in terms of estimated number of deaths and estimated number of people infected, and 2) face mask requirements… most likely lead to a significant increase in spread of the virus through surface contacts while having little to no effect on spread of the virus through the air (at least no effect that can not just as easily be achieved by having all infected persons cough into the crooks of their elbows), resulting in a net increase in spread of the virus,” her lawsuit says.
Experts have misled the public about the efficacy of facemasks, she feels. The lawsuit describes Young as a tractor-trailer driver who is also a biochemist with a doctorate who was once offered a job in Maryland by Anthony Fauci.
She’s also a law school graduate, the lawsuit says.
“(F)ace masks may pose health risks to mask wearers by decreasing oxygen intake,” the suit says. “A better way to slow the spread of COVID-19 that eliminates possible increases in contact spread, lowers health risks caused by decreased oxygen intake an d protects plaintiff’s right to free speech is to instruct citizens to cough into the crook of their elbow rather than into a mask,” she says.