CHARLESTON, WV: "In his fifth court victory challenging his executive order authority during a pandemic state of emergency, a federal judge ruled Monday that Gov. Jim Justice’s mask mandate was reasonable, all while Morgantown bar owners appeal a similar ruling. U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers released his written opinion order Tuesday evening in a case brought before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia by Andrew and Ashley Stewart, owners of Bridge Cafe and Bistro in Putnam County, denying their motion for a preliminary injunction against Justice’s indoor face mask requirement for public buildings. The Stewarts, who filed their case in September, allege their constitutional rights were violated by the July 7 mask order issued by Justice, which requires people to wear face masks or face coverings in all indoor public buildings. The order was amended Nov. 13 to require masks indoors even when people can socially distance from others, though the order has exceptions.

In his ruling, Chambers wrote that Justice was within his rights under the West Virginia Constitution and state law to issue the executive order requiring masks indoors. Chambers said the Governor’s powers in a state of emergency allow him to take action to protect the public during a public health emergency or pandemic.

“The Governor’s orders have a ‘real or substantial relation’ to a public health crisis,” Chambers wrote. “… The Governor’s measures are informed, based on science, and substantially related to the COVID- 19 pandemic.It is not the Court’s role to ‘usurp the functions of another branch of government’ in deciding how best to protect public health as long as the measures are not arbitrary or unreasonable,” Chambers continued. “… When elected officials ‘act in areas fraught with medical and scientific uncertainties, their latitude must be especially broad.’ It is clear that the orders are neither arbitrary nor unreasonable. Therefore, the Court finds that there is a rational basis for the Governor’s orders and that they bear a real and substantial relation to this public health crisis.”

Monday’s ruling and Tuesday’s order make the fifth court victory for Justice. Three previous attempts to challenge Justice’s executive orders have been rejected in Kanawha County Circuit Court by three separate judges over the last several months."

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