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(Omaha, NE) -- Omaha’s face mask mandate is staying in place for now.
On Tuesday, Douglas County Judge Shelly Stratman denied a motion for a temporary injunction against the mandate. “A temporary injunction is only an interim measure while litigation continues. An order on a temporary injunction is not a final determination of the case,” she said in her order. Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse issued the mandate earlier this month and shortly after the state announced it would challenge it.
“While this matter is a weighty one, it is not simple. There are no previous cases analyzing the statutes and ordinances involved in this context. In the span of one and a half weeks, five separate groups of attorneys have provided the Court with 50 exhibits in support of their varied positions and approximately 144 pages of written argument. The argument provided to the Court is scholarly but divergent; there is not one clear interpretation of these provisions. This is a case which has been argued with great scholarship and integrity. After all of the foregoing analysis, the Court is left with the plain text of Omaha Municipal Code § 12:21 which requires that “[t]he health director shall take all measures necessary to prevent the introduction within the city of malignant, contagious and infectious diseases, and to remove, quarantine or otherwise dispose of any person or persons attacked or having any such disease. This plain text appears, at least at this stage, to support the authority Defendants assert Dr. Huse possesses. For all of these issues, the pending declaratory judgment action offers an adequate remedy at law. In making this difficult decision, the Court takes into consideration the fact that even as litigation progresses, Intervenors, as members of the City Council, maintain legislative power. The City Council retains the power to alter or amend the ordinances in Chapter 12, or to issue an ordinance nullifying Dr. Huse’s current mask requirement. Likewise, the Nebraska Legislature retains legislative power to clarify or modify the delegation of public health power between cities and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.” - Judge Shelly Stratman
Tuesday’s ruling means the mask mandate will stay in place while the case plays out. It’s unclear when a final ruling will be made.