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Six businesses and organizations and one individual this week sued Missoula City Health Council and health worker Ellen Leahy, claiming the health board violated their inalienable rights by passing additional rules on Dec. 17 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The lawsuit follows Governor Greg Gianforte’s repeal on Friday of most of former Governor Steve Bullock’s COVID-19 guidelines, particularly those limiting hours of operation and the number of people allowed at establishments such as bars and restaurants.
Gianforte’s order leaves it up to companies to develop appropriate policies. However, local governments – counties, cities, and reserves – may apply more stringent practices. Some did, including Gallatin, Missoula, and Lewis and Clark counties.
A statewide mask mandate remains in place, but Gianforte has hinted that this will also be repealed, once the legislature passes corporate liability protections.
Lawyer Quentin Rhoades filed the complaint on behalf of Stand Up Montana; Bronwen Llewellyn-Littlewolf; Crosspoint Community Church Inc .; Accu-Arms LLC; Aliments Bi-Lo Inc .; Kingdon Enterprises LLC; and the Lolo Community Club.
On Thursday afternoon, the Missoula City Health Department said in a statement it had not yet been made aware of the complaint.
“The health official and the board of health have worked diligently under (the law) to enact just and reasonable restrictions to protect Missoula County from the spread of COVID-19. Sadly, we have lost 60 residents of Missoula County to COVID-related deaths, reflecting the devastating impact of this virus on our community and the continued need for public health measures to curb it, ”the statement said. of the department.
“No one has appreciated this aspect of the pandemic, including the health department, but it is the statutory duty of the health official and the board of health to stop the spread of communicable diseases, and it is a duty that we take seriously in the face of a deadly pandemic. “
Missoula County had 48 new cases on Wednesday, for a total of 349 active cases. Montana has 4,841 active cases and 1,100 deaths since March 2020.
In the lawsuit, groups called Montana’s public health system “archaic.” They oppose having to wear or enforcing the wearing of headgear, restrictions on opening hours and gathering of sizes, and “refusal of all human and family contact”.
The groups say their inalienable rights under Montana’s constitution have been violated, in addition to their rights to privacy, the free exercise of religion and freedom of expression.
They also accuse Leahy and the Board of Health of encouraging people to speak out against businesses or individuals who fail to comply with the ordinance, saying the board is responsible for “turning neighbors against neighbors and dividing the country. community”.
Claiming that COVID-19 has a low death rate roughly equal to that of seasonal flu, and that 99% of those under 70 survive, groups say science does not support restricting individual freedom.
However, the groups say, businesses have suffered irreparable damage. So they want the judge to stop the health department from enforcing the county’s disease benefits, and they want the county to pay all court costs.
Stand Up Montana is a new, Bozeman-based nonprofit founded in November by Cortney Brook Bent, according to a Secretary of State’s filing. The organization’s website says it was created “to support civil action against Governor Bullock and the MT DPHHS to end all current COVID restrictions.”
The Stand Up Montana website also states, “What started out as a small Facebook group quickly grew into a large group of over 2,500 members from across the state of Montana, but mostly concentrated in the Gallatin Valley. . Join us in the fight against tyranny. Together we defend Montana as Gallatin Unmasked. “
However, the court says that Stand Up Montana has 400 members. The organization’s Facebook group established on October 19 is private but says it has 282 followers. Gallatin Unmasked has 417 subscribers.
Crosspoint Community Church on Mullan Road has been gaining attention since October 2018, when Pastor Bruce Speer posted campaign signs for candidates Matt Rosendale, Greg Gianforte, Brad Tschida and Adam Hertz on the church grounds. To maintain their nonprofit status, churches are required by the Internal Revenue Service to refrain from supporting candidates or political initiatives.
Speer cited a 2017 executive order from former President Trump restricting actions the Treasury Department could take against religious organizations.
“We are a church that has taken a stand on what we believe to be a key moral truth and is pro-life,” Speer told KGVO radio in 2018. “We allowed pro-life candidates to put up signs of gardening in our church advertising. their campaign. “
In May 2020, Speer continued to defy IRS laws, hosting a forum for candidates for the United States House of Representatives. But by September, Speer had cut things down slightly. The election signs this time did not have a candidate’s name, saying only “Vote only for pro-life candidates.”
Some members of the Crosspoint Community Church showed up at the Missoula Black Lives Matter protests this summer, saying they were there to protect buildings and statues from vandalism.
“We understand that Black Lives Matter is showing up here and that they are known to create a lot of lawlessness and destruction,” Speer told the Missoulian in July.
Kingdon Enterprises operates coffee kiosks in Missoula. Owner Warren Kingdon moved to Lolo in 2018 and started the business after retiring as a pharmacist in Costa Mesa, California.
The lawsuit says Bronwen Llewellyn-Littlewolf resides in Missoula County. A web search results in a LinkedIn site that lists her home as Pocatello, Idaho, so she may be a newcomer as well.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at [email protected].
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