AUGUSTA (WGME) — Over a dozen business owners sued Governor Janet Mills on Friday over her shutdown orders in response to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, claiming her actions were unconstitutional.
The lawsuit calls for the immediate reopening of the state, and to lift the 14-day quarantine order for people traveling from out of state.
According to Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, the governor’s orders were written tactfully to ensure compliance with the constitution. “The executive orders and the restarting plan at issue in this lawsuit were carefully crafted and have been reviewed and updated in order to protect Mainers’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Frey said. “We will represent the governor and will vigorously defend the constitutionality of the challenged executive orders and restarting plan and the governor’s authority to protect public health.”
The majority of the 18 business owners on the suit are from the county hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, Cumberland County.
In the 28-page complaint, the business owners claim that protections of individual liberties should not be “suspended in the face of pandemic or public emergency.”
The governor’s office has not released a statement regarding the lawsuit.
