The city of Decatur mandated mask-wearing, on July 17.  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sued the city of Atlanta over its mask mandate. ( Photo: John Disney/ALM)

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms will continue their mask fight from a safe distance at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kelly Lee Ellerbe signed an order Monday morning for a Tuesday hearing on Kemp's motion for an emergency interlocutory injunction to stop Bottoms from mandating the wearing of masks—or doing anything else that overrides his authority.

Facing the irony of operating under a judicial emergency order requiring masks for entry into the courthouse during the coronavirus pandemic, the judge employed technology.

"Due to the current public health crisis, the Court will hear this matter via videoconference,"  Ellerbe said. "The hearing will be live streamed to provide public access."

Members of the public can watch the hearing on the court's website. The lawyers will use the Zoom teleconferencing service to make their arguments.

Kemp and his top lawyer, Attorney General Chris Carr, sued the mayor to stop her from enforcing a mask requirement in the city on Thursday—the day after she said President Donald Trump broke that law when he stepped barefaced off Air Force One at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

On Friday, the mayor accused the governor of putting politics over safety, saying Kemp was obviously reacting to her accusing Trump of violating city law. She was speaking on NBC's "Today" show from her home, where she is currently quarantined because she has tested positive for COVID-19.

The mayor also went on to CBS "This Morning," where she called Kemp "a Trump loyalist." The governor, she said, "seems to work very hard to please the president of the United States, and that is often at the expense of the people in our state."

The mask lawsuit isn't really about masks, according to the attorney general. "The State of Georgia continues to urge citizens to wear masks," Carr said in a statement posted on Twitter. "This lawsuit is about the rule of law."

Kemp said his issue with the mayor is bigger than masks. At a news conference at the Capitol Friday, he talked about his concern for small businesses affected by the mayor's attempt to return to the stricter lockdown of earlier days of the pandemic. He said another total shutdown could push struggling restaurants into bankruptcy.

It's not that Kemp is against wearing masks. He said he's all for it. He just doesn't want to mandate it. He said he wants individuals to take responsibility for defeating the virus and not depend on the government.

Kemp is asking the court to enjoin Bottoms from issuing orders that contradict him. He's also asking the court to enjoin the Atlanta City Council from approving those orders.

And he's asking the court to enjoin the mayor from issuing press releases or giving media interviews that suggest she has the authority to issue orders that are either more or less restrictive than his related to the public health emergency.

Expect the First Amendment to make an appearance at the emergency Zoom hearing Tuesday, based on what the mayor had to say over the weekend about the lawsuit.

"In addition to being sued over a mask mandate and voluntary advisory guidelines on COVID-19, @GovKemp has asked for an emergency injunction to 'restrain' me from issuing press statements and speaking to the press," Bottoms said in a tweet that included a photo of a page from the complaint listing Kemp's demands. "Far more have sacrificed too much more for me to be silent."