Florida Judge Lifts Stay, Allows Mask Mandates in Schools While Legal Proceedings Move Forward
By Fox News // September 8, 2021
Judge Cooper: We are in a pandemic. We have children who cannot be protected by a vaccination.
ABOVE VIDEO: Gov. Ron DeSantis gives COVID update at Daytona State College
(FOX NEWS) – A Florida judge ruled against Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday and is allowing schools to issue mask mandates while the appeals court sorts out the legality of the governor’s ban.
Leon County Judge John Cooper ruled to vacate an automatic stay given to the state after it appealed his previous decision stating that DeSantis’s executive order banning school mandates is unconstitutional, according to Fox 13 Tampa Bay.
Cooper said he believes this is the first time he has vacated a stay.
“We are not in normal times,” he said. “We are in a pandemic. We have children who cannot be protected by a vaccination.”
The governor’s order allowed parents to decide if they want their kids to wear masks to school rather than have local school districts make the decision, prompting a lawsuit brought by a group of parents in favor of school mask mandates.
“No surprise here that Judge Cooper concluded that he is unlikely to be overruled on appeal,” DeSantis Communications Director Taryn Fenske told Fox News. “We unsurprisingly disagree. Today, we plan to file our emergency motion to reinstate the stay, and we anticipate the appellate court will rule quickly, much like during the school re-opening case last year.”
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