By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Republican legislative leaders scored a significant legal victory as the clock runs out on 2023.
On Thursday, a panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order against the Biden Administration’s Contractor Vaccine Mandate in Mayes v. Biden, vacating its earlier opinion for mootness. According to the Ninth Circuit, the president rescinded his Executive Order in May, following the Ninth Circuit’s decision to reverse and vacate the district court’s grant of a permanent injunction; and earlier this month, the nation’s high court “vacated as moot the judgment in three cases concerning vaccine mandates.” The U.S. Supreme Court’s action was the final straw for the federal contractor vaccine mandate at stake in the Arizona case.
The news came months after the 56th Arizona Legislature had filed an Emergency Application to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case, arguing that “the Ninth Circuit overreached when it disturbed the status quo and stayed the district court’s injunction sua sponte.” After filing the application, Petersen said, “The Legislature’s intervention in this lawsuit against President Biden is critical in protecting the sovereignty of our state and the rights of all Arizonans.”
Both the Arizona Senate and House Republican Caucuses championed the December order from the federal appeals court. The Arizona Senate Republicans “X” account posted, “MAJOR win this week for Arizona Legislative Republicans in protecting you against a FORCED COVID-19 VACCINE!!… President [Warren Petersen] immediately fought back at this unconstitutional overreach and didn’t stop even after Biden revoked his emergency order at the end of the pandemic.”
The Arizona House Republicans wrote, “BIG WIN! The 9th Circuit today vacated its opinion that upheld Biden’s unconstitutional vaccine mandate for federal contractors. Thanks to [Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma] for intervening to protect Arizonans’ medical freedoms!”
The case began as Brnovich v. Biden in 2021, when former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed the first lawsuit in the nation against the president’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. At the time, Brnovich said that “the federal government cannot force people to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” and that “the Biden Administration is once again flouting our laws and precedents to push their radical agenda.” Brnovich’s suit was heard before U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi, who later, in February 2022, issued a permanent injunction against the president’s mandate for federal contractors.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
