Gov. Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron have filed opposing brief ahead of an upcoming legal showdown focused on the governor’s COVID-19 emergency orders. The briefs were submitted to the Kentucky Supreme Court on Friday. The state’s highest court has scheduled arguments for Sept. 17 in the case pitting the Democratic governor against the Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron.
Cameron contends the governor overstepped his constitutional authority with the orders. In July, the Supreme Court stepped into the dispute by halting attempts to block Beshear’s executive actions pending its own review. The cases were first filed in Northern Kentucky by an auto racetrack, daycare center and bakery owners.
Last month, a Boone County Circuit Court judge granted a temporary restraining order against some of Gov. Beshear's COVID-19 executive orders. Days later, a Scott County Circuit Judge ordered the governor to cease issuing or enforcing executive orders related to COVID-19 unless the orders meet specific criteria for an emergency as outlined by state law. On July 17, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a stay in both cases until the Supreme Court can hear arguments. "The Governor simply does not have the authority to act as a one-man legislature, even during a pandemic." Cameron's statement also said "Since the Governor issued an emergency declaration in March, he has unilaterally made the law in Kentucky without input from the General Assembly, the Commonwealth’s law-making body. These laws have drastically changed how Kentuckians can live their lives, raise their families, operate their businesses, and make a living."
Gov. Beshear's office also filed a brief on Saturday, which states that the Court has determined his executive orders of great and immediate importance and that he, along with the Kentucky Cabinet of Health and Family Services and the Department of Public Health, took steps to slow the spread of COVID-19.