PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) - Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich was justified in threatening the city of Tucson with sanctions if it were to proceed with a plan to force vaccinations on government employees, according to a civil liberties advocate.
“The rule of law matters here and you cannot just waive the rule of law based on a local whim or public health whim,” said Richard Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government.
Manning was responding to a vote by Tucson’s city council on Aug. 13 that mandates COVID-19 vaccinations for city employees. For those who are not vaccinated, the ordinance would have ordered suspension, according to media reports.
“It is important for other states to look at exactly what Arizona did and to take the similar action because protecting the rights of citizens of their state is of paramount importance right now,” Manning told Legal Newsline.
Although Tucson's ordinance would not have been effective until Sept. 29, Brnovich announced on Tuesday that the ordinance was illegal because it conflicts with an executive order signed by Gov. Doug Ducey.
“Elected officials in Arizona passed this law with the specific intent that it be applied and so when the city of Tucson moved ahead, they knew they were in direct contravention of the law,” Manning said.
Ducey's executive order gives jurisdiction to the state during a public health emergency and does not invest authority in any city, town, or county in Arizona to mandate vaccination.
“The state attorneys general who have done this nationwide have taken a real step forward in forcing real solutions rather than the quarantined solutions that have been imposed through emergency authorization, which truthfully, COVID-19 is no longer an emergency because we've now had 20 months to deal with it,” Manning said
It was widely reported that after Brnovich deemed the vaccine mandate illegal, Tucson officials put their plan to force vaccinations on pause.
“They've recognized that it’s a rule of law question they cannot win and there's no reason to waste taxpayer's money to fight it,” Manning added.
Neither the city attorney nor the mayor of Tucson responded to Legal Newsline’s request for comment.
The city has 30 days to amend the new ordinance or potentially face a cut in incoming revenues from the state.
“Tucson’s illegal vaccine mandate and the city could be held liable for attempting to force government employees to take it against their beliefs,” Brnovich said in a statement online. “COVID-19 vaccinations should be a choice, not a government mandate.”