HOW WILL MASK RULE BE ENFORCED?
Whose responsibility it is, punishment still unclear
If you forget to wear a mask inside a store, will you go to jail? Possible in theory, but highly unlikely in practice.
And what’s a Virginia business owner to do if someone refuses to wear a mask and still expects service?
Gov. Ralph Northam’s response is to educate the customer why face coverings are important for the health and safety of everyone, offer them a mask, and deny service if the customer still refuses to wear one.
The governor’s mandatory mask order went into effect Friday statewide and requires everyone to wear a mask inside public places, with some exemptions, including for people who have health conditions preventing them from covering their faces and for people who are eating or drinking.
But who will enforce the mandate and what if any punishment there will be for noncompliance remain unclear.
Rita Davis, counsel to the governor, said Thursday during a press conference that Northam doesn’t expect business owners to enforce the order, but he expects them to educate the customers about why it’s important to wear a mask.
The state health department could enforce the order in court one of two ways, Davis said: by asking a judge to issue a civil injunction ordering a business to comply, or by getting a magistrate to issue a warrant on a misdemeanor charge of violating the executive order.
But a minute later, she said it wasn’t the department’s job to enforce the order.
“It should not be the responsibility of the Virginia Department of Health to make sure you are wearing your mask, and it certainly should not be the responsibility of law enforcement or a business to make sure you are wearing a face covering,” Davis said. “Rather it is the personal responsibility of each and every one of us to comply” with the order, she said.
In any case, enforcement of the order is unlikely to happen if someone forgets to wear their mask once to the grocery store.
“Only gross, egregious and repeated conduct in violation of the order should rise to the attention of the Department of Health,” Davis said.
Northam said he doesn’t want to put any business owner in the “awkward position” of enforcing the order, and wants people to avoid confrontations.
“The intent of this is to do the right thing and to take care of those around you. It’s not to lock people up in jail,” he said.
Northam’s executive order says noncompliance can result in a class 1 misdemeanor, which results in up to 12 months in jail and up to a $2,500 fine. But the governor said he doesn’t want or expect police or sheriff ’s deputies to charge people with crimes for not having a mask.
The United Food and Commercial Workers’ union disagreed, saying employers and — if necessary — law enforcement should enforce the wearing of masks for both employees and customers.
Jonathan Williams, a spokesman for the chapter representing employees in Virginia and other mid-Atlantic states, said their members have reported confrontations between employees and customers who refuse to wear masks.
“It’s not inappropriate for a cashier to remind someone, ‘Don’t forget your mask,’ but sometimes these simple interactions can escalate quickly,” he said.
Northam previously said the General Assembly — which is slated to meet later this summer to amend the budget — could change the state code to make the punishment for noncompliance a civil fine, rather than a criminal misdemeanor.