Health Freedom Defense Fund, Inc. (HFDF), Ryan Blaser, Michelle Sandoz, Barbara Mercer, Emily Knowles, and Kendall Nelson as well as minor plaintiffs have filed suit against the City of Hailey, Idaho and the city’s mayor, Martha Burke, over Hailey’s Public Health Emergency Order No. 2021-03, or their Mask Mandate. The mandate was enacted in an effort to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.
The City of Hailey’s mask mandate requires those who enter a public indoor building in the city to wear a mask which covers both their nose and mouth.
The plaintiffs claimed that the mask mandate and its accompanying public awareness campaign must be abolished on the grounds that the mandate is preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. The plaintiffs argue the local law is preempted by an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which the plaintiff claimed “requires that use of masks must be optional to the user because normal testing, evaluation, and approval process for us of such masks has been bypassed by the FDA due to an emergency.”
Further allegations included that the mandate’s public awareness campaign is wrongly amplifying the scope of the EUA issued by the FDA, which stated that it is misleading to “state or imply that the product is intended for antimicrobial or antiviral protection or related uses or is for use such as infection prevention or reduction.”
Other claims brought by the plaintiffs include that the mandate implemented by the defendants violates individuals’ rights in the city by forcing them to partake in “a grand medical experiment.” Lastly, the plaintiffs argue that their fundamental human rights are violated along with their Constitutional rights, privileges, and immunities.
Davillier Law Group represents the plaintiffs.
