A Caddo District Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking Shreveport’s implementation of a mandate requiring masks to be worn inside businesses. Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino believes the city will have success in court because governments are afforded a lot of leeways when it comes to this kind of policy.
The suit triggering the restraining order was filed on behalf of five Shreveport businesses, but one of those businesses announced on social media they were unaware of the suit, and had not agreed to participate in it.
Louisiana reported more than 26-hundred new COVID-19 cases today. That’s the most ever in a single day for the Bayou State that didn’t include backlog cases since the pandemic started. The state’s death toll is up to 3,272 and hospitalizations rose by 75.
The State Fire Marshal’s office has conducted around 3,100 coronavirus spread mitigation compliance checks between June 26 and July 5, yet there hasn’t been any penalization of the rule breakers. State Fire Marshal Butch Browning says that’s because no businesses have so far been repeat offenders when reinspected after guidance is given on how they can come into compliance. Browning says the lack of citations or shutdowns is a strong indicator that businesses care enough about their customers and employees to come into compliance.
Cut 10 (07) “…everything goes bad”
Browning says after a third check, if there are businesses that are blatantly defying the rules, that’s when further action will be taken
It will be a hot weekend as heat index values will reach 110, maybe even 115 degrees. State Climatologist Barry Keim says on top of that rain chances are low this weekend…