by Joe Mueller
St. Louis and Jackson Counties are appealing to the Missouri Court of Appeals a circuit court judge’s declaration that all state and local COVID health orders are unconstitutional, null and void.
On Nov. 22, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green delivered an 18-page ruling stating all state and local health departments cannot issue orders, close businesses, quarantine students, and stated parts of Missouri’s Code of State Regulations pertaining to the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) violated the state constitution. St. Louis and Jackson Counties filed motions to appeal the ruling within the prescribed 30-day window. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt stated he would not appeal the ruling, despite the DHSS’ “apparent wish to appeal,” according to the appeal. However, Judge Green on Dec. 22 denied all pending motions.
“The Cole County ruling that led to widespread confusion and, if allowed to stand, will gut public health departments and endanger the lives of thousands,” St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said during a media briefing on Monday. “The confusion has already led to some county public health departments abandoning their response to rising COVID cases out of a fear that the wrath of the state will descend upon them.”
After the ruling, Schmitt sent a letter to all school districts in the state informing them he would take legal action against them if they enforced public health orders such as mask requirements or quarantines. Schmitt set up an email account through his office and asked parents to report violations of Green’s order by sending photographs of children wearing masks at schools.
“The Attorney General chose to not step up and appeal the Cole County case, ignoring his sworn duty to protect all the residents,” said Page, a Democrat. “Instead, he is playing to an anti-vax crowd that he believes will help get him into a higher office.”
Schmitt, a Republican, is running for the seat of retiring Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt.
“This is a frivolous and wasteful appeal brought by COVID tyrants who won’t accept or abide by the Court’s decisions,” a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office wrote in an email to The Center Square. “We will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of Missourians to make personal health decisions for their own families.”
The appeal states Green was incorrect in stating DHSS violated separation of powers principles in the constitution. The appeal states the delegation of authority to enforce health orders falls within the state’s recognized exceptions in the Missouri Revised Statutes. They also state Green was incorrect in declaring rules and orders that were not before the court “null and void.”
“The action in Cole County was wholly inappropriate,” Page said. “It undermined the mission of public health, which is to help those who are most vulnerable – the poor, the uninsured and the underinsured, and those without access to a primary care physician – those who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. Pulling away the safety net of thousands of Missourians is beyond the pale and that’s why we continue the fight.”
The Missouri Court of Appeals’ Western District, located in Kansas City, is the state’s largest intermediate appellate court based on the number of counties within its jurisdiction. It handles many administrative and judicial decisions as the state capital, Jefferson City, is in its jurisdiction.
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Joe Mueller covers Missouri for The Center Square. After seven years of reporting for daily newspapers in Illinois and Missouri, he spent the next 30 years in public relations serving non-profit organizations and as a strategic communications consultant.
Photo “COVID Measures” by Chad Davis CC BY 2.0.
