Yesterday, the Oregon Court of Appeals handed Governor Kate Brown a partial win on mask mandates.
The Freedom Foundation, a conservative group originally out of Washington state and billing themselves as a free market think tank, brought suit challenging Brown’s July 2020 mandate in order to invalidate mask rules. They broached this as Brown and the Oregon Health Authority not following legal procedures when they put the mandate in place.
Rather than going through the process of running the issue through the Oregon Legislature, Brown used an executive order to put the mandate into place faster as a means of protecting lives. The OHA maintained that an executive order isn’t subject to review, and therefore had every right to enforce the order.
The Court did not necessarily agree with the OHA, but said the point is moot, because the July 2020 mandate has since been superseded and is no longer in effect.
The current mask mandate was placed on Oregon citizens on August 24, 2021, requiring all people ages five and above, regardless of vaccine status, to wear a mask indoors and outdoors if the space for social distancing is not available.
By Sally K Lehman
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