Judge: Executive Orders Require Legislative Approval
A Connecticut Superior Court judge issued a stunning, if potentially hypothetical, check on Gov. Ned Lamont’s pandemic-related emergency powers Monday, in a 36-page judgment that may be supplanted by expected guidance from the state Supreme Court.
Judge Thomas Moukawsher issued a decision Monday on a complaint contesting the state mandate requiring students and teachers to wear masks in public schools to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
As he had in prior rulings, Moukawsher maintained that the “mask mandate was a rational response to the COVID-19 crisis.” But in many respects, the judge agreed with the CT Freedom Alliance’s assertion that Lamont’s executive actions — stemming from emergency declarations as a result of the pandemic — require greater oversight by the legislature.
“A system that does not function in an emergency safeguards us only when we don’t need it most,” Moukawsher wrote. “For this reason this court believes the Governor likely cannot continue to carry out his emergency orders without some form of ratification from the General Assembly.”
Read more: https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2021/03/08/judge-executive-orders-require-legislative-approval/