Posted by (+2861) 2 years ago
Last week Phillip Dupaul thought the "COVID scare" was exaggerated. But he was pretty unnerved on Monday when the other inmates in his holding cell at the Cascade County Detention Center began laughing, loudly, at the irony, when he told them a judge threw him in jail for not wearing a mask. The inmates told him they had all been exposed to one inmate who had the virus. Hours later, Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter would announce a 55-person outbreak at the jail.
Dupaul, 60, refused to wear a mask when he arrived for jury duty on Monday and was ordered to jail. At the same time Dupaul was being booked into the facility, county law enforcement was learning the extent of the outbreak — the worst of any detention center in the state. Jail officials placed Dupaul in general population, rather than in isolation.
Dupaul, meanwhile, argues the judge did not have the authority to jail him and said law enforcement was "wrong" to put him in jail with those who may have been infected.
Reached by phone on Friday, Dupaul said he had a "scratchy throat," but hoped it was only the air quality during wildfire season. Dupaul also told the Missoulian he believed Gov. Steve Bullock's mask mandate issued in July expired in 30 days. In fact, the mask directive states clearly in its language that it expires at the end of the state of emergency. A spokeswoman with the governor's office said Friday Montana's state of emergency is tied to the national emergency, and will end once the national emergency does.
Dupaul had shown up for jury duty that morning but refused to a wear a mask. Judge Larson, presiding over the trial as a substitute for a local judge, gave him three options: wear a mask, wear a shield, or be held in contempt of court and spend 24 hours in jail. When Dupaul was released 24 hours later, his wife picked up him. His work entails cleaning properties for elderly folk who aren't physically able to do it themselves. Maybe the judge saved a bunch of elderly by locking this jerk up.
Dupaul, 60, refused to wear a mask when he arrived for jury duty on Monday and was ordered to jail. At the same time Dupaul was being booked into the facility, county law enforcement was learning the extent of the outbreak — the worst of any detention center in the state. Jail officials placed Dupaul in general population, rather than in isolation.
Dupaul, meanwhile, argues the judge did not have the authority to jail him and said law enforcement was "wrong" to put him in jail with those who may have been infected.
Reached by phone on Friday, Dupaul said he had a "scratchy throat," but hoped it was only the air quality during wildfire season. Dupaul also told the Missoulian he believed Gov. Steve Bullock's mask mandate issued in July expired in 30 days. In fact, the mask directive states clearly in its language that it expires at the end of the state of emergency. A spokeswoman with the governor's office said Friday Montana's state of emergency is tied to the national emergency, and will end once the national emergency does.
Dupaul had shown up for jury duty that morning but refused to a wear a mask. Judge Larson, presiding over the trial as a substitute for a local judge, gave him three options: wear a mask, wear a shield, or be held in contempt of court and spend 24 hours in jail. When Dupaul was released 24 hours later, his wife picked up him. His work entails cleaning properties for elderly folk who aren't physically able to do it themselves. Maybe the judge saved a bunch of elderly by locking this jerk up.
