Governor Andy Beshear’s executive actions that have been issued through the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be challenged after Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a brief in the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Cameron’s office says the brief follows a July 20 ruling by a Boone County Circuit Court Judge finding many of the governor’s executive orders unconstitutional. Cameron says since Governor Beshear has issued an emergency declaration in March, he has made the law in the state without input from the General Assembly, which is the Commonwealth’s law-making body. He adds the laws have drastically changed how Kentuckians can live their lives, raise their families, operate their businesses, and make a living and that the governor does not have the authority to act as a one-man legislature.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Beshear has created a new legal code, according to Cameron, by issuing more than 150 executive orders, guidance documents, and emergency regulations.
The brief filed by Cameron argues that the governor’s actions disregard the constitutionally mandated separation of powers, which strictly prohibits a Governor from exercising legislative power. He adds the executive orders also violate Sections 1 and 2 of the Kentucky Constitution, which afford Kentuckians the right to earn a living and protects them from the accumulation and exercise of absolute governmental power.
The case continues against Governor Beshear and the executive orders in the Kentucky Supreme Court, with oral arguments scheduled for September 17.
