Missouri judge ruled that local health officials can no longer issue COVID-19 safety orders. He said the orders infringe upon the constitutional separation of powers between branches of government, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The ruling from Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green means local health regulations throughout Missouri are struck down and rendered obsolete, reported the Post-Dispatch.
“This case is about whether Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services regulations can abolish representative government in the creation of public health laws, and whether it can authorize closure of a school or assembly based on the unfettered opinion of an unelected official. This court finds it cannot,” said Green, according to the Post-Dispatch.
“Missouri’s local health authorities have grown accustomed to issuing edicts and coercing compliance. It is far past time for this unconstitutional conduct to stop,” added Green, a Republican who was first elected as county judge in 2010.
This comes as the result of a 2020 lawsuit by a group including Ben Brown who is running for state Senate in Missouri.
On the advice of our attorneys, I kept this suit secret for better part of a year. It was difficult, but the impact of this ruling cannot be understated. The age of mandates and forced quarantine of students by local health departments in our state is over!
— Ben Brown (@BenBrownTweets) November 23, 2021
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