The Supreme Court of Alabama on Friday issued a ruling that affirms the Montgomery Circuit Court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit by three Jackson County residents against Governor Kay Ivey and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris over the state’s mask order.
The mask mandate has been in place since July 16, 2020, and is set to expire on April 9, 2021.
Plaintiffs Barry Munza, Larry Lewis and Debbie Mathis sued Ivey, Harris and the Alabama State Board of Health on July 24, seeking a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief.
Two days later, the trial court entered an order denying the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order, stating that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that they would be “irreparably harmed” without its issuance.
This was followed by the trial court on August 11 entering an order granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss based on the plaintiffs lacking standing because they failed to plead any particular injury caused by the mask requirement.
Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, written by Associate Justice Mike Bolin, upheld this trial court decision.
“The plaintiffs have failed to allege any ‘specific concrete facts’ demonstrating that they have suffered an ‘actual’ injury as the result of the July 15 proclamation adopting the amended health order that required masks or facial coverings to be worn when within six feet of a person from another household,” Bolin summarized.
The ruling also outlined that the plaintiffs failed to even introduce “allegations about how the facial-covering requirement is being enforced, to the extent that the requirement is being enforced at all.”
No justices dissented.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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