HomeMy WebLinkAboutNews Release - Mail Packet - 8/4/2020 - Information From Darin Atteberry Re: Loveland Reporter Herald Article Dated July 24, 2020 Titled Lawmaker Candidates Sue Larimer County Health Department, Governor Jared Polis And Others Over Mask OrdLawmaker candidates sue
Larimer County health
department, Gov. Jared Polis
and others over mask order
Press release alleges orders violate residents’ First and 14th
Amendment rights
Colorado Governor Jared Polis makes a point during a news conference on the state’s
efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus Thursday, July 9, 2020, in Denver.
By MAX LEVY | mlevy@prairiemountainmedia.com | Loveland Reporter-Herald
July 24, 2020 at 8:23 p.m.
Two Colorado House of Representatives candidates have filed a lawsuit in U.S.
District Court alleging Gov. Jared Polis and others are violating their civil rights by
ordering Colorado residents to wear face masks.
In a press release, Donna Walter of Larimer County and Mark Milliman of Boulder
County argue that recent masking orders, which have been introduced as Colorado
grapples with a rise in COVID-19 cases, are in fact efforts to compel political speech.
“The First and Fourteenth Amendments protect against compelled speech,” the
release states. “Forcing already struggling businesses to enforce compelled speech
July 30, 2020
TO: Mayor & City Council
FROM: Darin Atteberry
FYI sek
mandates is worse because it exposes them to potential liability under federal civil
rights statutes.”
“It’s about political principles like free speech, rule of law, and much more,” Walter
said in the same release. “The government can’t force us to scare each other to
death.”
Larimer County public health director Tom Gonzales, Boulder County Public Health
executive director Jeff Zayach and Fort Collins City Manager Darin Atteberry are
named as defendants in the suit alongside Polis.
Both counties and the city of Fort Collins have introduced rules requiring individuals to
wear masks in public to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Face masks work by blocking respiratory droplets — microscopic amounts of moisture
that may contain active coronavirus virions or other pathogens — from traveling
through the air and spreading disease.
The efficacy of mask-wearing is supported by a growing body of research, and the
use of masks is encouraged, among other precautions, by the World Health
Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment, and other agencies.
In their release, recent orders are characterized as primarily political, and Milliman
and attorney Mark Patlan dismiss masks as “ineffective.”
When reached for comment on Friday, representatives of both county health
departments pushed back against statements made in the release about the use of
masks, including an assertion by attorney Mark Patlan that asymptomatic
transmission is “extremely rare at worst.”
“We know that’s not the case,” Larimer County health department spokeswoman
Katie O’Donnell said.
Boulder County health department spokeswoman Chana Goussetis defended her
county’s face covering order as “an effective and necessary tool when used in
conjunction with other prevention actions such as social distancing and regular
handwashing and the response activities of testing and prompt disease investigation,
including contact tracing.”
Atteberry declined to comment, saying he had not yet seen the complaint in the case,
and a representative for Polis did not respond to an email that included the release.
According to the release, Walter and Milliman are seeking “declaratory relief to
declare mask mandates for the healthy to be unlawful compelled speech, and
injunctive relief to halt enforcement of unlawful mask mandates that expose private
businesses to financial liability.”
Walter, a Republican, is running to unseat Democrat Cathy Kipp in House District 52,
while Milliman, also a Republican, runs against Democrat Karen McCormick in House
District 11.
The lawsuit was filed in the district court on Friday.
https://www.reporterherald.com/2020/07/24/lawmaker-candidates-sue-larimer-county-health-
department-gov-jared-polis-and-others-over-mask-order/