The Bandimere Family is proud to invite you to their “Stop the COVID Chaos” Rally on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 at 6:00pm at Bandimere Speedway. Join with us as we celebrate God and country and the people of the great State of Colorado.
— from the Bandimere Speedway website
The latest news about this controversial piece of clothing is that Colorado Governor Jared Polis has extended the mask-wearing mandate until October 12.
The order continues the state’s ongoing mask mandate — first put in place last July — which requires everyone over the age of 11 to wear a non-medical face covering when in public indoor spaces. You are, of course, welcome to wear masks outdoors as well, and also in non-public indoor spaces… or, well, pretty much anywhere a mask might be fashionable.
Polis claims that mask-wearing has been key to allowing the state to reopen as much as it has so far. He has not commented, yet, on the direct impacts to the fashion industry.
Not everyone in Colorado has been pleased with the mask mandate.
The Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit filed late last month by two prominent Colorado conservatives challenging the mask mandate… and also challenging other emergency state orders aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19.
On August 26, conservative personality Michelle Malkin and Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville named Governor Polis and multiple state and local public health officials as defendants in a lawsuit, challenging the authority of Colorado’s executive branch to create what amounts to temporary laws in an emergency situation. The lawsuit — technically, a petition asking the Colorado Supreme Court to address the question of authority without waiting for the case to be heard in a lower court — was controversial from its beginning.
As far as I can tell, the Colorado Supreme Court has never taken up a case that had not previously been considered by a lower court. And the Court apparently decided not to start changing that tradition with this particular case. The plaintiffs’ petition was denied on Friday, August 28.
On September 1, petitioners Malkin and Neville announced at a political rally that they had filed a challenge to Governor Polis’ various health orders in Denver District Court. That political rally, held at the Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado, was billed as “Stop the COVID Chaos”.
From the Bandimere website:
Gates open at 5:00pm, with the rally starting at 6:00pm. The highlight of the event will be at the conclusion when all attendees will be invited to go onto the track racing surface for a photo. Everyone is encouraged to bring their United States and Colorado flags and dress in red, white, and blue for the photo.
The Town of Morrison is a home rule municipality in Jefferson County. The population was 428 at the 2010 census. But it sits at the edge of the greater Denver metropolitan area.
Some media outlets described the Bandimere turnout as “hundreds”. Other outlets used the term “thousands”. In any case, there were numerous people not wearing masks.
The Bandimere family is reportedly one of the plaintiffs in the recent District Court filing challenging the Governor’s mask mandate. But that’s not the full extent of the family’s legal activities. From a story by reporter Amber Fisher published on Yahoo.com:
Jefferson County Public Health has filed a lawsuit against the Bandimere Speedway over the racetrack’s ‘Stop the COVID Chaos Rally’ Tuesday evening. Before the event was held, the agency said it warned the business that “large events, no matter their intent, remain subject to current Executive Orders and Public Health Orders as they are the law.”
The event drew more than 1,000 people, many of whom chose not to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.
“After Bandimere refused to comply with both county and state public health orders, JCPH decided it had no choice but to take legal action against Bandimere to protect the safety for all county residents and encourage behaviors that limit the spread of COVID-19 in our community,” the County said in a news release. “Events like the September 1 rally at Bandimere Speedway put everyone at risk. As a community, we must work together to minimize the health impacts of COVID-19 both on an individual and economic level, which we can all do by continuing to be vigilant about public health precautions…”
36 US states currently mandate mask-wearing in some situations. 25 states require masks both indoors and outdoors, in public settings.
Here is the introduction to the September 12 order from Governor Polis (which you can download here):
Pursuant to the authority vested in the Governor of the State of Colorado and, in particular, pursuant to Article IV, Section 2 of the Colorado Constitution and the relevant portions of the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act, C.R.S. § 24-33.5-701 et seq., I, Jared Polis, Governor of the State of Colorado, hereby issue this Executive Order extending Executive Orders D 2020 039, D 2020 067, D 2020 092, D 2020 110, D 2020 138, and D 2020 164 ordering individuals in Colorado to wear a medical or non-medical face covering due to the presence of coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) in Colorado.
The Colorado order requires people 11 years and older to wear a covering over their noses and mouths:
- When entering or moving within any public indoor space
- While using or waiting to use public (buses, light-rail) or non-personal (taxis, car services, ride-shares) transportation services
People who do not have to wear a mask include:
- People who are 10 years old and younger
- People who cannot medically tolerate a face covering
- Children ages 2 and under should NOT wear masks or cloth face coverings