The Colorado Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear a lawsuit filed by a top statehouse Republican and a conservative activist challenging Gov. Jared Polis’ statewide mask mandate.
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The court made its decision less than two days after the lawsuit was filed by Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, and Michelle Malkin of Colorado Springs.
Neville and Malkin, represented by attorney and Colorado Republican National Committeeman Randy Corporon, alleged that Polis violated the required separation between the legislative and executive branches when he issued the mask mandate more than a month ago.
The lawsuit was filed directly to the Colorado Supreme Court, which legal experts told The Colorado Sun was an extremely unusual, if not unheard of, move that made the chances of it being heard highly unlikely.
In the lawsuit, Neville and Malkin said they would take the case to a lower court or the federal court system if the Colorado Supreme Court declined to take up the case.
“Petitioners are ready, willing, and able to litigate the issues raised in this
petition in either the state District Court in Denver, or the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, or both,” the lawsuit said.
Polis said Malkin and Neville, in filing the lawsuit, were showing they are “on the side of a deadly virus that has taken the lives of too many friends, parents, and loved ones.”