Janelle Irwin Taylor
Pinellas County government is asking a local court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the county’s mask ordinance.
In its motion to dismiss, lawyers for the county argue the lawsuit, filed by Rep. Anthony Sabatini on behalf of Indian Rocks Beach residents Zachary Damato and Lucy Turek, a married couple, does not infringe upon individuals’ constitutional freedoms.
Sabatini filed the suit in mid-July among a spate of other lawsuits filed against local governments statewide. Sabatini has been a vocal critic of mask mandates, at one point drawing ire for referring to mandate supporters as “mask Nazis.”
“There are no genuine issues of material fact,” the motion to dismiss argues about the original complaint.
“We currently face a global pandemic in the form of (COVID-19.) Disease and death lurk in unseen droplets expelled by the mouth and nose when a person infected with (the novel coronavirus) talks, coughs, or sneezes,” the motion reads.
The motion cites national, state and local states of emergency and argues the county has a “larger percentage of vulnerable population.”
The motion also points out there are several exceptions to the mask mandate. It leaves mask-wearing among children under 18 to the discretion of parents, masks aren’t required when individuals are eating or drinking at bars and restaurants if they are seated at a table and social distancing or for those exercising while social distancing. They are also exempt in spaces with fewer than 10 people. People with medical conditions precluding mask-wearing are also exempt.
The county wrote that it approved the mask ordinance after significant debate, including testimony from public health officials who cited national guidance. The June 23 meeting lasted six hours and also included pronounced comments from members of the public both for and against the order.
“Plaintiffs now asks this Court to second-guess the wisdom of (the mask ordinance) and undo what the representative government of this County deemed appropriate to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public, a function legislatively entrusted to the County,” the motion reads.
It argues the Plaintiffs failed to establish that the order has “no real or substantial relation” to public health and safety or that it is a “palpable invasion of rights.”
“The County’s legislative action requiring face coverings to be worn in public places is directly and substantially related to the public health and, as a matter of law, is not an invasion of constitutional rights,” the motion contends.
Pinellas County filed the motion to dismiss Aug. 14. The case is still pending.
