Action blocs5/15/2023 ![]() Other cases have chipped away at the power of federal and state authorities to mandate COVID vaccines for certain categories of employees, or thwarted a governor's ability to declare emergencies.Īlthough the three blocs are distinct, they share ties with the Federalist Society, a conservative legal juggernaut. There, the conservative majority, bolstered by three staunchly conservative justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued an emergency injunction finding the order violated the freedom to worship. ![]() In California, a lawsuit brought by religious groups challenging a health order that limited the size of both secular and nonsecular in-home gatherings as COVID-19 surged made it to the U.S. Most of the dozens of cases he filed were dismissed but nonetheless had a chilling effect on school policies. In Missouri, the Republican state attorney general waged a campaign against school mask mandates. In Wisconsin, a conservative legal center won a case before the state Supreme Court stripping local health departments of the power to close schools to stem the spread of disease. Through lawsuits filed around the country, or by simply wielding the threat of legal action, these loosely affiliated groups have targeted individual counties and states and, in some cases, set broader legal precedent. "That's the arena where these decisions are being made, but it's the fundamental constitutional principles that underlie it that are an issue." "I don't think these cases have ever been about public health," said Daniel Suhr, managing attorney for the Liberty Justice Center, a Chicago-based libertarian litigation group. ![]() Galvanized by what they've characterized as an overreach of COVID-related health orders issued amid the pandemic, lawyers from the three overlapping spheres - conservative and libertarian think tanks, Republican state attorneys general, and religious liberty groups - are aggressively taking on public health mandates and the government agencies charged with protecting community health. Through a wave of pandemic-related litigation, a trio of small but mighty conservative legal blocs has rolled back public health authority at the local, state and federal levels, recasting America's future battles against infectious diseases. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (right) has sued the CDC over its air travel mask mandate, while Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (left) has sued and sent cease and desist letters to dozens of school districts over mask mandates.
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