Beginning today, face coverings are required in public. This is a critical step to combatting the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring students can have in-person instruction beginning next month. https://t.co/QA1iZKtqXq
— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) July 20, 2020
Still more headlines roll in of state law enforcement officers who are telling Governor Hutchinson to stick his legal and constitutional mask mandate, which takes effect today, where the sun don’t shine.
Among the latest in a long and growing list:
El Dorado Police Chief Kenny Hickman and Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts.
Also, Faulkner County Sheriff Tim Ryals, who wrote in defiance of the mandate:
There have been many debates about the best way to handle the coronavirus (COVID-19) issue while, at the same time, protecting our health, safety, and each of our constitutional rights.
Ryals’ in-your-face to the governor on enforcement (oh, sure, he encouraged people to follow it) seems particularly unkind given that it was just a few months ago that Hutchinson gave Ryals’ wife a $77,000-a-year job on the state Parole Board.
I still await a sheriff or police chief who can cite a portion of the Constitution, state or federal, or a court precedent that protects a “right” not to wear a mask.
Not that the law matters (even the governor doesn’t seem too serious about enforcing his months-late mask mandate), but this Facebook post from Little Rock lawyer Tim Cullen lays out the specific legal foundation of the governor’s order.