Court to Hear Injunction Request on Omaha Mask Mandate
The State of Nebraska is challenging the authority of the City of Omaha to mandate public health measures without state permission amid a surge of the highly contagious omicron variant.
State Attorney General Doug Peterson filed a lawsuit in Douglas County District Court challenging the action last Tuesday by Dr. Lindsay Huse, who serves as the health director for the city in her role as the director of the Douglas County Health Department.
Huse issued an order requiring masks indoors in public places in Omaha, with certain exceptions, including religious gatherings and those eating at restaurants.
“These are unprecedented times, and we need everyone’s help,” Huse said last Thursday. “The current COVID-19 surge is not over and we don’t know how long it will last, but what you do can make a difference.”
In its lawsuit filed late last Wednesday, the state alleges Huse exceeded the authority given to her under local and state law. Huse has said she believes that she has solid legal footing, a position that Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert has supported despite the mayor joining Gov. Pete Ricketts in criticizing Huse’s unilateral decision.
The Attorney General’s Office said that Huse needed approval from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The state agency has rejected previous requests to implement a countywide mask mandate.
The mask mandate Huse enacted applies within Omaha city limits, and she urged other communities in the area to consider the strategy they are deploying.
The lawsuit sites Nebraska Revised Statutes 71-502, which says in part that DHHS “shall have supervision and control of all matters relating to necessary communicable disease control.” The lawsuit notes that Huse has directed actions of the county health department in connection to the mandate, and it states that Omaha municipal code affords the relevant power to the county health director, not the city health director.
“Abuse of power like this undermines trust in our nation’s pandemic response,” Ricketts said last Thursday. “It’s dismaying to see Douglas County’s Health Director sidestep the proper legal channels and overreach her authority. I fully support the Attorney General’s lawsuit to uphold the rule of law in Nebraska.”
Douglas County District Court Judge Shelly Stratman has a hearing scheduled for the case — Nebraska DHHS v. Lindsay Huse (CI 22-299) — at 10 a.m. next Monday, Jan. 24, to consider a motion requesting temporary injunctive relief.
The Douglas County Health Department issued the second-highest case count so far in the pandemic last Thursday, with 1,834 new positive COVID-19 tests in a 24-hour period. The area had 18 pediatric patients hospitalized, a record as the omicron variant has appeared to be more of an immediate threat to younger people than previous variants.
Doctors reiterated last Thursday the importance of getting vaccinated against the virus and wearing a mask in public regardless of whether Omaha’s new mandate survives the court challenge.
The Omaha mask order would be lifted if virus case counts and hospital capacity improve significantly. The county was reporting an average of 1,585 new cases per 100,000 people over the past week and that would have to be below 200 before health officials would consider dropping the mandate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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