GA Governor Sues Atlanta Mayor Over Mask Mandate: ‘Will Shutter Businesses and Undermine Growth’

ATLANTA, GA – Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is suing the mayor of Atlanta to block enforcement of a mask mandate that contradicts the parameters of executive orders and stands to suppress the freedoms of residents of Atlanta.

Kemp was lambasted as one of the early movers in opening up the Peach State. Predictions of mass death, doom, and gloom dominated nearly every response to the governor’s decision to allow individuals the be individually responsible while avoiding overreaching executive authority. This was months ago; the doom and gloom and waves of death never materialized.

Now, as the Pandemic Panic is pumped up all over again, Kemp has maintained his focus on constitutional discipline, encouraging people to wear masks, while being one of a few governors refusing to mandate the practice. The mayor of Atlanta however, a Democrat, has no such interest in such discipline. She mandated masks in her city, contradicting the governor’s orders.

From Fox News:

“[…] Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, in a suit filed in state court late Thursday, argued that Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has overstepped her authority and must obey Kemp’s executive orders under state law.

Kemp “seeks to have this Court make a declaration that Mayor Bottoms’ executive orders are more restrictive and contradictory to his executive orders, and therefore, Mayor Bottoms’ COVID-related executive orders are suspended,” the lawsuit states.

Bottoms had announced on July 10 that Atlanta would go back to “phase 1” status as coronavirus cases surged, arguing the state had been “recklessly” reopened too soon. The move threatened to shutter restaurant dining rooms and non-essential city facilities. At the same time, Bottoms claimed her orders were not “inconsistent” with Kemp’s.

“This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times,” Kemp said in a statement. “These men and women are doing their very best to put food on the table for their families while local elected officials shutter businesses and undermine economic growth.” […]”

It’s worth reiterating that, even with recent spikes in confirmed coronavirus cases, the State of Georgia is NOWHERE NEAR to fear mongering predictions of the ‘Keep It Closed’ crowd. Georgia hospital capacity is not being stretched beyond normal bounds. The conditions set out as justification for original lockdowns have proven to not be a plausible risk in nearly all states around the country.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina — a state of similar population, in the same region, with far less deaths and hospitalizations — Governor Roy Cooper has gone in the opposite direction. He mandated masks, he spiked in-person education, and continues to lord of North Carolinians with ‘Emergency Powers’ when the virus, troublesome though it may be, does not constitute an emergency.

Read more about Georgia here.

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