The Georgia Supreme Court will probably side with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp over an executive order banning cities and counties within the state from requiring masks to be worn in public to curb the spread of coronavirus, Newsmax analyst Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax TV.
The order also blocks cities and counties from restricting restaurants and other businesses from opening.
Kemp filed a lawsuit challenging Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottom's citywide mandate requiring face coverings. Lance-Bottoms, a Democarat, also dialed the city back to phase one policies that restrict businesses from opening at full capacity and allow residents to leave home only for essentially needs.
Now the decision on whether to allow Atlanta's restrictions stand or to strike them down rests in the hands of the Georgia Supreme Court.
"I suspect in the end, the state will rule in favor of the governor, not the mayor because ... constitutionally, the city is the creature of the state ... states dominate cities when it comes to the law,"Dershowitz told "Saturday Report."
"Cities are not constitutional units. A state is a constitutional unit. We are the United STATES of America, not the United CITIES of America, and it's the state that authorizes cities to do what they can do," Dershowitz told "Saturday Report."
"Now, some state legislatures have given mayors the power to declare emergencies. Most have not. Most have said that resides with the governor. It will depend on local practice, on legislation in Georgia, on prior precedence of Georgia ... A state could abolish all cities and say we have no cities anymore, we have one state," Dershowitz said.
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