Connecticut Governor’s Mask Mandate Allows Non-Police to Issue Fines
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) released his 70th executive order related to the coronavirus Tuesday by announcing fines of $100, which can now be issued by non-police officials, to violators of his mask mandate.
The governor’s executive order authorizes the state “Commissioner of Public Health, local health directors, district health directors, and their designees; municipal chief executive officers and their designees; and state and municipal police officers, peace officers …special police forces … and public safety departments of institutions of higher education to issue fines.”
A fine of $100 can be issued by any of the officials mentioned to any person who is not wearing a mask in a public place, save for those with medical exemptions.
Fines can be issued to those who, while outdoors, are not wearing a mask and not maintaining a distance of six feet from every other person.
Businesses can be fined as well for any employee’s failure to wear the mandated mask.
Those who sponsor or host an outdoor event that violates the Department of Economic and Community Development’s gathering size restrictions for those events can receive a fine of $500, while any person who attends such an event can be fined $250.
Currently, executive orders state private indoor gatherings are capped at a 25-person limit, while private outdoor gatherings are restricted to 100 people. An organized outdoor event cannot have more than 500 people.
The order took effect immediately and will remain in effect until November 9.
Earlier in September, a Democrat-controlled special committee of the Connecticut legislature voted to extend Lamont’s emergency powers until February 9, 2021.
On Wednesday, a man who appeared to be protesting the governor’s mask mandate interrupted Lamont’s press conference during a groundbreaking ceremony for a transit project.
According to WTNH News, the man shouted to the governor using a bullhorn that there is no scientific evidence to support a mask mandate.
The protester said the governor never returned his phone calls. Lamont said he would speak with him after the press conference.