ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled again that Governor Tim Walz was within his legal authority when he declared a public health emergency and mandated face masks. The state Supreme Court earlier had found he appellate opinion technically flawed and sent the case back down for review. The appellate court fine-tuned its rationale but came to the same conclusion. In short: The 1996 state Emergency Management Act of 1996 authorizes a governor to declare a peacetime emergency during a public health emergency such as a pandemic. Republicans had accused Walz, a Democrat, of over-reaching his authority. They unsuccessfully made it a 2022 campaign issue. Walz won re-election 52% to 44%. Meanwhile the conservative Upper Midwest Law Center sued, arguing that the mask requirement was unconstitutional. The Center claimed that CoVid “most likely” originated from a laboratory leak and thus did not occur “naturally” and could not be considered an “act of nature” under the state law. Nonsense, said the Court.
Earlier: Governor lifts mask mandate
Earlier: Walz: Masking now required statewide