CT Coronavirus: Lamont Sued Over Face Masks

CONNECTICUT — You may have heard that Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order Friday night mandating people wear cloth face coverings beginning at 8 p.m. Monday when they're not able to safely social distance.

Not everyone is happy with that decision and one person in particular is Lindy Urso, a Stamford attorney, who filed a lawsuit in federal court hoping to stop Lamont's order.

In a 47-page lawsuit, Urso said "this action is brought in response to the ever-increasing encroachments by the defendant, Connecticut Governor Lamont, on the individual freedoms and liberties secured to Connecticut citizens by the United State and Connecticut Constitution, by virtue of his series of Executive Orders..."

The lawsuit claims Lamont has the power to quarantine sick people during a pandemic but no such authority to force healthy people to remain in isolation. He also said no legal authority has ever mandated the wearing of cloth masks prior to the coronavirus outbreak.

In the lawsuit, Urso claims that Lamont has been at the forefront of "stirring up some of that fear in Connecticut." He also blasted the media as well.

Urso told Patch on Sunday, "I brought this lawsuit because enough is enough. We learned the hard way in the aftermath of 9/11 that our government will decimate our civil liberties in times of National crisis. We now live in a virtual surveillance state. In this case, I believe the shuttering is private business by the Governor is insane; Sweden, Taiwan and Japan haven’t shut down and have no appreciable difference in health outcome.

"The whole idea behind these extreme measures was to 'flatten the curve' to keep people from dying in overrun hospitals' parking lots. Mission accomplished — we do not need still further encroachments on our freedoms — particularly ones that science has proven do not work," Urso said.

See also: Lamont Issues Orders That Cloth Masks Be Worn In Public: Here’s What You Need To Know

The lawsuit cited two examples of what Urso called fear-mongering by Lamont. In March, Lamont said on MSNBC that 200 nurses at Danbury Hospital were furloughed due to exposure to coronavirus patients but that later turned out to be 200 "hospital employees," not just nurses, among seven hospitals, according to Urso's lawsuit.

Urso said Lamont erroneously reported publicly that a newborn died as a result of the coronavirus. In an April 3 Hartford Courant story it states that the official cause of death concerning the newborn's death has not been released and is still pending. The baby did have COVID-19 at the time of death.

Urso cited the CDC's instructions in March that the public should not wear face coverings as it could do more harm than good and includes studies that demonstrate the poor performance of masks at stopping the spread of diseases.

Urso said he has a right to breathe in fresh air minus a mask. He is seeking to have Lamont's order be declared unconstitutional.

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