Kemp vs. Bottoms court case delayed as judge recuses
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ATLANTA, GA (WGCL) — The highly anticipated battle between Governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over a mask mandate that was set to start Tuesday has been delayed after a judge’s recusal.
The delay, confirmed by CBS46.com, happened Tuesday morning just hours before the two sides were set to meet in Fulton County Superior Court. The attorney general’s office requested the recusal.
“After consultation with our client, the State would respectfully request that you recuse from this matter,” the state wrote in an email to the judge after a conference call. “This particular case has drawn significant attention at the state and national level, and therefore, we believe all parties concerned, that even any potential perception of impropriety could be problematic.”
The state also asked for the case to be assigned to the presiding judge, but no action on that has been taken thus far.
Kemp has criticized the mask mandate and said it was an overreach not allowed under his executive orders. Bottoms says she’s seeking to protect the citizens of Atlanta and said the governor is trying to “restrain” her from speaking to the press about it well.
It started on July 8th, when Mayor Bottoms signed an executive order mandating the use of masks across the city.
“Mayor Bottoms mask mandate cannot be enforced but her decision to shutter businesses and undermine economic growth is devastating,” said Governor Kemp in a press conference.
On July 10th, Bottoms rolled back the city’s reopening to phase one guidelines. Governor Kemp filed the lawsuit shortly thereafter.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Governor sued me personally, along with our city council personally, after I noted that President Trump came to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and did not have on a mask and I pointed out he was violating city law,” Mayor Bottoms added.
In a tweet Sunday – Mayor Bottoms said Governor Kemp asked for an emergency injunction to “restrain” her from speaking to the press.
“When I look at the unpublished report from the White House that says Georgia is a red zone state, what that reports says is that there are very clear guidelines we should follow; very clear metrics that we should follow. Face coverings are one,” Mayor Bottoms said, “This is not about politics, this is about people. It’s about the over 3,100 people who have died in our state. The over 130,000 who have tested positive.”
No new court date has been scheduled as of late Tuesday morning.
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