{"id":727237,"date":"2021-09-07T15:05:37","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T19:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=727237"},"modified":"2021-09-07T15:32:31","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T19:32:31","slug":"arizona-attorney-general-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-city-employees-is-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-attorney-general-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-city-employees-is-unconstitutional\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Attorney General: COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for City Employees Is Unconstitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Farizona-attorney-general-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-for-city-employees-is-unconstitutional%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=727237&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-covid-19\">COVID-19<\/a> vaccine mandate that was handed down by the Tucson government for its employees was deemed unconstitutional by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-arizona\">Arizona<\/a> Attorney General Mark Brnovich\u2019s office, according to a Tuesday news release.<\/p>\n<p>The mandate, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azag.gov\/press-release\/ag-brnovich-city-tucsons-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-violates-state-law\">he said<\/a>, violates state law and goes directly against a law\u2014Senate Bill 1487\u2014passed by the Arizona Legislature earlier this year, meaning Tuscon must amend or repeal the ordinance or lose state funding. The law bars\u00a0local and state government entities from imposing COVID-19 mandates on employees, although it does not go into effect until Sept. 29, creating what Brnovich described as a loophole that was exploited by Tucson\u2019s government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Legislature\u2019s intent was clear when it passed S.B. 1824 earlier this year\u2014government entities from the local to state level cannot mandate COVID-19 vaccines,\u201d said his office, adding that the \u201cCity of Tucson could subject itself to potential liability claims if it were to take adverse action against an employee who relies on\u201d the state law or an executive order handed down by Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) to refuse the vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, Tucson has 30 days to rescind or amend the ordinance otherwise the attorney general\u2019s office will notify the Arizona Treasurer to withhold funds from the city, which is located in Pima County, the release said.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement from Brnovich comes about three weeks after Tucson\u2019s government adopted the ordinance that required public employees to give proof of vaccination against COVID-19, the disease caused by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/giving-the-right-name-to-the-virus-causing-a-worldwide-pandemic-2_3277200.html\">CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus<\/a>, by 4 p.m. on Aug. 24. Those who refuse or cannot provide vaccination proof will face a five-day suspension without pay, the city said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3908887\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/07\/19\/mark-brnovich-1200x800.jpeg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3908887\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/mark-brnovich-600x400-1.jpeg\" alt=\"mark brnovich\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich speaks at a news conference in Phoenix, Ariz., on Jan. 7, 2020. (Bob Christie\/AP Photo)<\/figure>\n<p>As a result, Ducey issued an executive order to stop cities from imposing vaccine mandates until Senate Bill 1824 goes into effect later this month. However, Tucson has continued to mandate employees to either get the vaccine or face a suspension without pay.<\/p>\n<p>Private businesses in Arizona have to allow medical or religious exemptions for employees when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the attorney general\u2019s office said in an opinion issued last month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA sincerely-held religious belief includes a moral or ethical belief against receiving a COVID-19 vaccination that has the strength of a traditional religious view. The sincerity of that belief should be judged based on the employee\u2019s words and conduct at the time the conflict about the COVID-19 vaccine arises and not based on prior words or conduct,\u201d said Brnovich\u2019s office on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times has contacted the City of Tucson for comment. The city hasn\u2019t issued a public response to Brnovich\u2019s Tuesday announcement.<\/p>\n<p>When the ordinance was handed down, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, a Democrat, said the government has a \u201clegal duty and legal obligation to provide and maintain a safe and healthy workplace for its employees\u201d and claimed that unvaccinated people \u201cunjustly\u201d expose COVID-19 to others.<\/p>\n<p>A Pima County judge in August rejected a request by the Tucson police union to stop the city\u2019s vaccine mandate.\u00a0Tucson\u2019s city attorney previously has said that Ducey\u2019s executive order doesn\u2019t block the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2019\/06\/13\/Jack-Phillips.jpg\" alt=\"Jack Phillips\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"names\">\n<p>Jack Phillips<\/p>\n<p>Senior Reporter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jack Phillips is a reporter at The Epoch Times based in New York.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A COVID-19 vaccine mandate that was handed down by the Tucson government for its employees was deemed unconstitutional by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich\u2019s office, according to a Tuesday news &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-727237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}