OLYMPIA, Wash. — Editor's note: the attached video ran in May.
A federal judge has denied a request for a preliminary injunction against Gov. Jay Inslee's emergency COVID-19 orders that had been brought by some Republican state lawmakers.
The Seattle Times reports the legal challenge filed in May contended "the emergency has been contained" and that ongoing restrictions weren't legally justified.
In a court order dated Friday, Judge Benjamin Settle wrote that federal lawsuits against state officials are allowed in certain instances in which the state official has a connection with the enforcement of an allegedly unconstitutional act.
Settle wrote, however, that Inslee's lawyers persuasively argued that while the governor issues emergency orders other officials enforce those orders. There has been little enforcement of Inslee's emergency orders.