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Law360 (July 27, 2021, 4:24 PM EDT) -- Just days after St. Louis required people to wear masks indoors in public and on public transportation, Missouri's attorney general sued the county and city over the requirement that came as COVID-19 cases rise in the state.
Missouri Attorney General Eric S. Schmitt announced Monday the state court lawsuit, which was launched against various St. Louis city and county officials.
In the lawsuit, Schmitt said his reasoning was "to protect the liberty and constitutional rights of the people of Missouri." The suit also claimed that the city and county had highly restrictive orders despite also having high COVID-19 rates.
"The defendants' mask mandates are a continuation of a series of arbitrary, capricious, unlawful and unconstitutional COVID-19 related restrictions," the suit said. "There is no reason to allow such orders to continue."
In the past week, St. Louis city and county said that everyone who is 5 years or older would have to wear masks publicly both inside and on transportation. That applied to those who were vaccinated as well, according to a release from the city mayor's office.
Exceptions were applicable in certain situations, according to the mayor's office, such restaurant dining.
"Vaccinations are the best way to stop the fast-spreading delta variant of COVID-19, but so far, not enough people have been vaccinated," said St. Louis County Department of Public Health Acting Director Faisal Khan in a statement Friday. "We are relentlessly committed to making vaccinations more accessible and convenient. In the meantime, we need everyone, vaccinated or not, to wear masks in crowded indoor settings."
The move by the county and city of St. Louis came as the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread.
Various agencies throughout the country have been trying to find ways to stop the virus' spread.
For example, New York City, the state of California and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs all announced COVID-19 vaccination requirements for their employees Monday.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that even people vaccinated against COVID-19 should resume wearing masks in public indoor spaces, including schools, in areas of the U.S. where case counts remain high.
"This continued government overreach is unacceptable and unconstitutional, especially in the face of a widely available vaccine," Schmitt said in his Monday statement. "There is absolutely no scientific reason to continue to force children to wear a mask in school."
St. Louis County declined to comment, and a representative for the city of St. Louis was not immediately available for comment.
The state is represented by Deputy Attorney General for Special Litigation Justin D. Smith and Jeff P. Johnson and Michael E. Talent of the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
Counsel information for the defendants was not immediately available Tuesday.
The case is State of Missouri ex rel. Eric S. Schmitt v. Sam Page, in his official capacity as St. Louis County Executive, et al., case number unavailable, in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Twenty-First Judicial Circuit of Missouri.
--Additional reporting by Anne Cullen and Hailey Konnath. Editing by Andrew Cohen.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
