Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Austin, Texas, for refusing to lift local mask mandates.
What We Know:
- Paxton is threatening the city and the county that contains it because he believes that “city/county leaders must not be thinking clearly. Maybe it’s oxygen deprivation from quintuple-masking. Whatever the case, they’ve tried this before. They lost. Travis County and Austin have a few hours to comply with state law or I’ll sue them,” the attorney general tweeted.
City/county leaders must not be thinking clearly. Maybe it’s oxygen deprivation from quintuple-masking. Whatever the case, they’ve tried this before. They lost.
Travis County and Austin have a few hours to comply with state law or I’ll sue them. And they’ll lose again. pic.twitter.com/eDqT1QHvGP
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 10, 2021
- Paxton’s statement came on Wednesday, March 10th, the same day the lone star state’s mask mandate officially expired. NBC News reports that the message was a direct threat to Travis County Judge Andy Brown, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, and Dr. Mark Escott of the Austin-Travis County Health Authority. All who wish to continue to enforce safety mandates as recommended by CDC guidelines.
- Fellow Republican and Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order to end the mask mandate allows private businesses to restrict access to their services and still require masks. Still, local officials are no longer able to do so. Paxton argues that, under the Texas Disaster Act, the governor’s authority supersedes local authority because the Governor is the leader of the State’s response to a statewide emergency. “Traditional preemption principles and the TDA’s plain language dictate that the Governor’s emergency orders control over conflicting local orders,” he wrote.
- Mayor Adler told CNN on Thursday, “We promised the people in this community a long time ago that we would be driven by the data and the doctors, and we’re going to make good on that promise for however long we can. The science and the data are very clear that the single most important thing we can all be doing at this point is wearing masks.” The city, which has its own local mask order, plans to remain under mask mandate until at least April 15th.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend that everyone wear a mask in public settings, calling them a “simple barrier” to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
