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Judge Blocks Enforcement of Blanket Mask Mandate Ban

August 27th, 2021 by Jake Stofan
A Circuit Court Judge has blocked the Department and Board of Education from enforcing a blanket ban on universal mask mandates in schools, but he left open the door for mask mandates to be struck down by other means.

Circuit Court Judge John Cooper essentially ruled a blanket ban on mask mandates violates the Parents Bill of Rights, which allows school boards to infringe on the rights of parents if a policy is narrowly tailored, serves a compelling state interest or is not otherwise served by less restrictive means.
“Anyone who uses that bill has to follow all provisions, not part of the provisions,” said Cooper.
Cooper said he couldn’t strike down the Department of Health rule requiring parental opt-outs from mask mandates because the Department wasn’t included in the lawsuit, but he did prohibit the Department of Education from enforcing the rule.
“Because the Parents Bill of Rights does not ban school board face mask mandates,” said Cooper.
Judge Cooper did leave the door open for other enforcement means, so long as school boards are given an opportunity to plead their case that their mask policies comply with the Parents Bill of Rights.
“They must allow a due process proceeding of some sort to allow for a showing of the reasonableness etc,” said Cooper.
How exactly that process would look is unclear.
The ruling leaves much to be desired by both the parents who sued and the State.
It’s likely both sides may choose to appeal parts of the ruling.
“It’s not surprising that Judge Cooper would rule against parent’s rights and their ability to make the best educational and medical decisions for their family, but instead rule in favor of elected politicians. This ruling was made with incoherent justifications, not based in science and facts – frankly not even remotely focused on the merits of the case presented,” said DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw in an emailed statement.
Earlier this week Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said he believes the state would win on appeal, like it did in the school reopening case.
“It’s like Groundhog Day. We did this exact same thing last year,” said Corcoran.
Within an hour of the ruling, the Governor’s Office indicated it would immediately appeal.

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