Stay-at-home order legal, Idaho attorney general says

BOISE (AP) — Gov. Brad Little’s stay-at-home order to limit the spread of the coronavirus is legal and clearly defined by law, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said.

Wasden said the Republican governor’s power to assert such an order is found within Idaho code.

Little issued the 21-day order on March 25.

Some lawmakers and a northern Idaho sheriff had questioned Little’s authority to do that, contending it violated the U.S. Constitution.

“The law in this area is clearly defined,” Wasden, also a Republican, told the Idaho Statesman in a story on Friday. “I have no problems with providing a legal defense of the governor’s order and stand ready to do so should the need arise.”

Idaho has 1,078 confirmed cases and 10 deaths because of the virus, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally on Sunday morning.