Lawsuit Filed Against Wisconsin Mask Mandate

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is hearing a case that is challenging the mask mandate by Gov. Tony Evers that requires people in Wisconsin to wear masks in public places. The lawsuit aims to overturn and end the current statewide mandate arguing that this mandate is unlawful.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed on Oct. 28 that they will hear the lawsuit case by Jeré Fabick against Tony Evers and the current mask mandate.

Fabick filed the latest lawsuit directly with the Wisconsin Supreme court in mid-October. Jeré C. Fabick works as a policy advisor and member of the Board of Directors of The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit research and education organization based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The institution aims to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems

This lawsuit comes at a time when, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services the number of coronavirus cases is reaching new high numbers. According to the daily coronavirus report from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, as of Nov. 2 new cases are up 542% over the last two months. The Department of Health Services also reports that there are currently 48,366 known positive cases in the state of Wisconsin.

According to the mask mandate, it is enforced that people in Wisconsin over the age five to wear a mask in public enclosed spaces. The mandate has exceptions places where you are unable to wear a mask such as places like restaurants.

According to Graceann Rossmiller, a UW-Milwaukee student and resident of the Milwaukee area, the mask mandate is something that she supports and sees it as a postive. She believes that it is wrong to go against the mandate and that people should be in support of it and not fight against the mandate.

“I support the mask mandate, because it’s something that is really important to prevent COVID-19 and helps make everyone feel safe when they’re outside in public places,” said Rossmiller. “It’s really not that hard to just listen to what people are saying and just wear the mask.”

This is not Fabick’s first time challenging one of Tony Evers’ mandates; earlier in the year he filed a lawsuit against the “Safer at Home” order. According to the Wisconsin department of health services, the goal of the “Safer at Home order was to prohibit the nonessential travel of people and limit gatherings to help flatten the curve of COVID-19 earlier this year.

According to Evers’ mask mandate that went into effect on Aug. 1, the mandate was set to expire by the end of Sept. before it was extended. The current mask mandate is still in effect after Evers extended the mandate on Sept. 22 and is currently set to expire later this month on Nov. 21.

“If we want to do this right and stop coronavirus in its tracks, people have to wear a frickin mask it is simple as that,” said Evers in a media briefing over the rise of Covid-19 in the state of Wisconsin on Oct. 30.

Evers enacted the mask mandate by using a law that allows Wisconsin governors to order public health emergencies for 60 days. The “Safer at Home” order, which was issued using the same health emergency powers as the mask mandate, was struck down earlier this year by the Wisconsin supreme court.

“I think that places like restaurants or the Campus here at UW-Milwaukee do a good job at enforcing the mask policy, if people don’t want to wear a mask, they just kick you out or don’t allow you inside, said Rossmiller. “It helps everyone in those places know that they take it seriously and again it makes people feel safe.”