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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry issued an opinion today calling Governor John Bel Edwards’ new executive order, which imposes a statewide mask mandate and places restrictions on bars, unconstitutional.
“After careful consideration, it is my opinion as to the chief legal officer of the State that the order does not pass the constitutional test,” Landry said. “…the three provisions of the executive order…are likely unconstitutional and unenforceable. Although the mask mandate and the 50-person limit may be good recommendations for personal safety, they may not be enforced with financial or criminal penalties.”
(See the PDF here: Opinion 20-0068)
Landry has also stated he was not consulted by Edwards before the governor made his latest executive order on Saturday, July 11.
The opinion by Landry was released just one day after he disclosed that he tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
Governor Edwards issued a statement in response to Landry’s opinion.
“If ever there were a time to put politics aside to govern, it is now when we are in the middle of a public health crisis that affects all Louisianans regardless of their beliefs or political affiliation,” Edwards said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.
He also stated that the mandate is within his powers under emergency orders and that his order was supported by Vice President Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx with the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force.
Worth noting: In May, Landry issued a mandate for the Louisiana Department of Justice stating that all employees working in the office building are required to wear face masks.
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See the full statement from Edwards below:
“If ever there were a time to put politics aside to govern, it is now when we are in the middle of a public health crisis that affects all Louisianans regardless of their beliefs or political affiliation. I wish Jeff Landry would listen to his own words from March 18 when he stood with me and said extraordinary measures were necessary to protect the people of our state during this COVID-19 crisis, encouraged Louisianans to follow my directives and said he was united with me in protecting the health and safety of the people of our state. I’m not sure what has changed since then, aside from the loss of 3,300 additional lives and more than 80,000 additional Louisianans becoming infected.”
Louisiana continues to follow guidance from the White House and, just yesterday, I hosted Vice President Mike Pence and members of the federal White House Coronavirus Task Force in Louisiana, which is considered by the federal government to be in the ‘red zone’ for new cases. Vice President Pence said he agreed with the steps I have taken in Louisiana and encouraged our people to wear masks and abide by my reasonable regulations. In fact, on Monday’s White House call with governors, Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the federal coronavirus response, singled out my actions, including the mask mandate, as a ‘best practice’ for states with rising cases.
Last week, Louisiana had 243 new cases per 100,000 people, whereas across the country, the average was only 119 new cases per 100,000 people. We clearly have a COVID-19 problem in Louisiana and I will not let our state go back to a time when we risked being able to provide health care for our people, which also would put our economy in peril, despite what the Attorney General may want,” Edwards said.
