NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s attorney general says mask mandates are constitutionally defensible.
The Tennessean reports that the Friday opinion comes as some county mayors have moved to enact the requirements.
Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III wrote that for more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that communities have the right to protect themselves against an epidemic of disease.
Slatery also compared mask mandates to challenges of the seat belt law and helmet requirement for motorcyclists. Arguments against these two laws have been rejected with courts finding they are safety measures allowed under the state’s authority.
