SPOKANE, Wash. — Attorneys are moving forward with a lawsuit against Washington's attorney general over COVID-era restrictions on doctors, and Spokane native and former NBA star John Stockton is helping spearhead the effort.
They claim dozens of Washington doctors are being penalized and threatened for speaking out against COVID vaccines or treatments.
Stockton has been a vocal critic of the state's response to the COVID outbreak. During the height of the pandemic, he was told he couldn't attend Gonzaga basketball games in the Kennel if he wouldn't wear a mask.
KREM 2 spoke with Rick Jaffe, Stockton's attorney, Wednesday to ask why this case still matters if the pandemic is officially over. He said this case is really about freedom of speech.
"There are about 60 doctors, Washington licensed physicians, who are somewhere in the process of being investigated, prosecuted or sanctioned or have already been sanctioned for all, or in part, based on speaking out in public against what we'll call the 'mainstream COVID narrative,'" Jaffe told KREM 2. "The question is, does the fact that someone has a state health license give the state government some additional powers that it wouldn't have over an individual?"
Jaffe went on to say that he couldn't think of a better advocate for people's rights than Stockton.
"I mean, he's been the focal point and the brunt of some of these issues," Jaffe said. "He's been castigated and vilified."
Jaffe told KREM 2 these lawsuits are not just about doctors having the right to speak, but ultimately the right to hear information that differs from the "mainstream COVID narrative."
When questioned on why Stockton and other medical professionals are filing the lawsuit years after the end of the pandemic, Jaffe said that the pandemic is over and that the Washington Medical Commission needs to "drop this stuff."
Stockton's lawyer added that the main goal of the lawsuit is to obtain a preliminary injunction to stop the Washington Medical Commission from investigating, prosecuting or sanctioning doctors for speaking out in public against the "mainstream COVID narrative."
"Or, if not, to get the Supreme Court because I believe the Supreme Court will stop this," Jaffe said. "And, one of the things we need to do to fix it is to take away the state's power to sanction doctors for expressing dissenting opinions because a lot of people think that First Amendment is pretty important to democracy."
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.